Sam Boughedda

Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery reiterated Tuesday his Underweight rating with a $12 price target for Beyond Meat (NASDAQ :), stating that the company is still bearish.

According to the analyst, retail sales growth has been declining and that the company’s plant-based meats have recently launched jerky “masking an acceleration in the declines of its other portfolio”

Lavery stated that Gardein (a competitor in plant-based meat) launched a product called jerky in June 2020. However, it has been unsuccessful and they remain worried about whether jerky will be able to adapt itself to other segment segments.

The analyst also stated that Beyond sales for the week ended May 15th, fell 3%. However, sales dropped 16% if they include jerky.

Beyond could continue to grow in a similar way as Gardein, although it’s too early to know if it will be sustainable. We see risks to consensus estimates, even if the jerky momentum is strong in the near term. They don’t appear to be supported near-term by general momentum.