Beyond Meat, Pizza Hut Join Forces To Launch Plant-Based Meat Pizza

Beyond Meat (BYND) has teamed up with Yum! Brands’ (YUM) Pizza Hut to launch a plant-based meat pizza with its new Beyond Pan Pizzas range, featuring the Beyond Italian Sausage Pizza and the Great Beyond Pizza.

This first-in the-category national launch makes plant-based meat pizzas more widely available to pizza lovers everywhere, say the companies.

“Our partnership with Pizza Hut is a category first and together we will continue to raise the bar on game changing product innovations as we introduce the delicious taste of Beyond Meat products to pizza fans nationwide” commented Ethan Brown, CEO of Beyond Meat.

“We’re thrilled to be on this journey with Pizza Hut that enables us to further increase access to better-for-you plant-based meat as we continue to expand our partnership with Yum! Brands,” he added.

Both pizzas are available for a limited time while supplies last at all traditional Pizza Hut locations across the US.

This offering is part of a broader collaboration between the two brands. “Starting today, fans in the UK will also be able to enjoy Beyond Meat pizzas at select Pizza Hut locations throughout London as part of a limited-time offering” the companies add.

Shares of Beyond Meat are plunging 22% in Tuesday’s pre-market trading session after the plant-based meat manufacturer reported 3Q results that fell short of analysts’ expectations. The company posted an adjusted loss per share of $0.28, while Wall Street had projected adjusted EPS of $0.05.

Beyond Meat’s 3Q sales of $94.4 million missed Street estimates of $132.8 million. Meanwhile, quarterly revenues improved by 2.7% year-over-year. (See BYND stock analysis on TipRanks).

Following 3Q results, Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh maintained a Hold rating on the stock, explaining: “We overall look quite favorably upon the Beyond Meat brand, product assortment, track record of innovation, longer-term prospects, and positioning to the very on-trend alternative meat category. In the near term, we expect coronavirus to weigh upon BYND’s restaurant and foodservice results. The more difficult foodservice conditions post Q1 coupled with a now elevated valuation keep us sidelined.”

Currently, the rest of the Street shares Parikh’s outlook. The Hold analyst consensus is based on 6 Holds, 2 Buys and 4 Sells. With shares up about 99% year-to-date, the average price target of $145 now implies downside potential of 4% to current levels.