Bankruptcy Watch: Beyond Meat faces new financial problems

Beyond Meat has been struggling as it faces increased competition and dwindling demand for its plant-based meat products.

"Reports from 2025 show continuing challenges in demand, with major players like Beyond Meat reporting declines in U.S. retail sales for some product formats, including refrigerated plant‑based meats, down 17%, according to Reuters.

The market is still growing, but it's becoming commoditized with many traditional meat companies adding plant-based products.

"Market forecasts still anticipate long‑term growth potential, expecting the U.S. plant‑based meat market to expand significantly beyond 2025," shared Grand View Research.

Beyond Meat, a pioneer and leader in the field, has struggled.

"The company’s overall Financial Health Score stands at a concerning 1.03, labeled as WEAK, highlighting the significant challenges ahead. The company, known for its innovative approach to creating meat substitutes from plant-based ingredients, has recently faced a series of setbacks that have prompted analysts to adopt a cautious stance on its stock," according to InvestingPro analysis.

Now, the struggling brand faces a new challenge as it has detailed another financial problem in its latest SEC filing.

What Beyond Meat told the SEC

-"On December 18, 2025, Beyond Meat, Inc. (the “Company”) notified Yi (Jevy) Luo, the Company’s Vice President, Corporate Controller and principal accounting officer, of the termination of his employment. His last working day was December 18, 2025 and his last day of employment is December 23, 2025," the company shared in an 8-K filed with the SEC.

That change happened in relation to an investigation the company conducted.

"The termination occurs about a month after the beleaguered El Segundo, California-based company identified a material weakness in its internal controls for finance reporting related to accounting for non-recurring and complex transactions," according to a Nov. 12 filing with the SEC.

Lubi Kutua, the Company’s current Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and principal financial officer, will assume the duties of principal accounting officer effective December 18, 2025, pending the search for a replacement. Kutua’s compensation will not change in connection with his increased responsibilities, according to the latest filing.

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Beyond Meat faces financial problems

In August, Creditsafe shared with TheStreet on Beyond Meat that made it clear the company had been late in paying its bills.

• Beyond Meat’s Days Beyond Terms (DBT), or how late they pay their bills, has more than doubled over the past 12 months, according to Creditsafe data.
• Beyond Meat historically kept its DBT below the industry average of 12 for the second half of 2024. But then its DBT began to increase in early 2025. In August 2024, for example, Beyond Meat’s DBT sat at 8, and even dropped to 5 in October 2024 and then to 4 in November 2024. 
• Starting in March 2025, its DBT increased to 11. The company’s DBT then rose to 18 in April 2025 and reached a high of 20 in May 2025. As of July 2025, Beyond Meat’s DBT is 19, which is much greater than the industry average of 12 and is more than double what it was one year ago. 

“This increasing delay in payments to suppliers indicates that the company could be experiencing liquidity pressures. Although the company has denied imminent bankruptcy filings, these rising DBT figures highlight growing financial challenges, especially considering their troubling Q2 earnings results,” Creditsafe Head of Brand and Spokesperson Ragini Bhalla shared in her note to TheStreet.

Beyon Meat has fully denied that it's at risk of running out of cash.

“Your story suggesting that Beyond Meat filed for bankruptcy is unequivocally false. We have not filed nor are we planning to file for bankruptcy,” the company shared in an email to TheStreet.

Beyond Meat continues to struggle

Beyond Meat releases its third-quarter financial results in November.

• Net revenues were $70.2 million, a decrease of 13.3% year-over-year.
• Gross profit was $7.2 million, or gross margin of 10.3%, compared to gross profit of $14.3 million, or gross margin of 17.7%, in the year-ago period.
• Loss from operations was $112.3 million, or operating margin of -160.0%, compared to loss from operations of $30.9 million, or operating margin of -38.2%, in the year-ago period.
• Loss from operations included $77.4 million in non-cash impairment charges related to certain of the Company’s long-lived assets.
• Net loss was $110.7 million, or $1.44 per common share, compared to net loss of $26.6 million, or $0.41 per common share, in the year-ago period.

The company did take some steps to improve its short-term financial situation.

"As we approach the end of 2025, we’ve achieved three important building blocks for our broader transformation efforts. These are significantly reducing our overall leverage in connection with the previously announced exchange of substantially all of our 2027 convertible notes; meaningfully extending our debt maturity; and finally, adding substantial liquidity to our balance sheet,” CEO Ethan Brown shared.

Beyond Meat has more debt than cash

"As of September 27, 2025, Beyond Meat held about $131.1 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the same time, the company had approximately $1.2 billion in outstanding debt on its balance sheet," according to Barcharts.

"Liquidity remains fragile," according to Beanvest, which noted that its recent financial moves did improve its immediate position.

"While the exchange reduces near‑term default risk, the combination of negative FCF, leverage, and higher‑cost secured debt keeps financial flexibility tight and equity risk elevated until operations turn cash‑generative," it added.

Beyond Meat is making changes

Beyond Meat has delayed its latest financial results by about a week because of its latest revelation and SEC filing.

"The shift was partially in order to quantify an expected non-cash impairment charge for the three-month period ended Sept. 27 related to certain long-term assets," Food Dive reported.

Beyond Meat is currently reviewing its internal controls to develop a remediation plan to address the material weakness.

"In order to do so, Beyond Meat outlined several changes it believed it would need to implement, including allocating more resources to the accounting department, which would include 'hiring additional personnel with strong technical accounting and public company reporting knowledge and expertise to ensure sufficient staffing levels for accurate and timely financial reporting,' it said in its Nov. 12 filing, according to Food Dive.

People may not want plant-based meat

Part of the company's problems comes from dipping demand for its core product.

“While interest in plant-based eating remains, it has largely dipped from 2023 levels. Only 19% will intentionally choose animal-free dishes when dining out this year (versus 27% in 2023),” according to a 2024 study from the Culinary Institute of America, the nonprofit Food for Climate League, and the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative.

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