Apr 15, 2026
Stock in Beyond Meat has taken a major nosedive, and investors may be wondering what's next for the maker of meat alternatives — and why its CEO got a huge raise, even as the stock is in the doldrums.
Beyond Meat — the company said (1) in March it was rebranding as Beyond The Plant Protein Co., though its website and social channels still retain the "Meat" (2) — staved off one threat to its stock being delisted by handing over its annual report to Nasdaq regulators last week.
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Beyond Meat received a notice from Nasdaq on April 6, stating that it failed to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2025, jeopardizing its listing, but the company filed its report with the SEC on April 9 (3).
But the company faces another threat to its stock being delisted: it received a letter in early March stating that its stock closed below $1 a share for 30 consecutive days, threatening its listing on the Nasdaq.
Beyond Meat's stock has to close above $1 for 10 consecutive days before the 180-deadline on Aug. 31 in order to stay listed (4).
A huge slump
Beyond Meat stock has dropped tremendously, with its value dropping by more than 75% in 2025 (5).
It has closed below $1 daily since Jan. 16, a massive gap from its high of $234.90 in July 2019 (6).
Last fall, the company underwent a debt restructuring deal that included issuing up to 326 million new shares, a "stock-diluting deal" that "was spurred by declining sales at the company," the Los Angeles Times reported (7).
This came after the company's sales took a nosedive, with the LA Times reporting its sales fell from $465 million in 2021 to $326 million in 2024.
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Reports point to a decline in consumer demand for meat alternatives, and a rise in interest in protein — and real meat.
"Animal meats are in the true cyclical fashion of consumer trends, having a moment that currently leaves less room for our products and brand," CEO Ethan Brown said on a conference call with analysts last summer, the LA Times reported.
The cost of Beyond Meat products could also play a role in the decline, with Nielsen reporting that inflationary pressures have impacted the meat alternative market, with sales falling 2.3% in 2024. "Retailers are responding to this trend by limiting their offerings of plant-based meats and focusing more on their core meat products," Nielsen reported (8).
And a report from Good Food Institute found that dollar sales of meat and seafood alternatives were down 10% in 2025 (9).
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Competition may also be impacting Beyond Meat, with the LA Times reporting that Beyond Meat's "chief rival," Impossible Foods, has "made sales gains at supermarkets and is available as a Whopper at Burger King."
With Beyond Meat facing headwinds, investors may be wondering why CEO Ethan Brown was handed a huge raise in 2025.
Company filings show that Brown's total compensation for 2025 was $29,846,850, including a salary of $587,500 and stock awards worth $26.7 million (10). By comparison, in 2024, he earned a total of $5,016,951 (11).
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What's next for Beyond Meat?
The LA Times reported that the company is focused on new product offerings that have fewer and less-processed ingredients. This comes after a campaign from the meat lobby, which targets meat alternatives as "processed foods," the LA Times says.
"We know that the extreme nature of the current renaissance around animal protein will, as consumer trends do, moderate," Brown said on the call with analysts.
The company also reportedly (6) said in its 10-K filing that it would consider a reverse stock split, which could raise the stock price.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
AP News (1); Beyond Meat Investors (2),(3),(4),(5),(10),(11); MarketWatch (6); Los Angeles Times (7); NielsenIQ (8); Good Food Institute (9)
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Rebecca Payne has more than a decade of experience editing and producing both local and national daily newspapers. She's worked on the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Metro, Canada's National Observer, the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.
