Shareholders of Beyond Meat, a California-based company producing plant-based meat substitutes, are suing the firm for allegedly concealing its need for a major asset write-down that led share prices to plummet.
The case, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, is seeking to recover damages caused by the company’s alleged violations of federal securities laws.
“Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and prospects,” the lawsuit states.
The litigation claims that Beyond Meat has been facing “shrinking demand” for its products, along with widening debt and losses since early 2025. It also claims that the company’s goal has been to improve profitability by the end of 2026 and states the company was “rigidly focused on operating expense reduction.”
However, in November 2025, Beyond Meat issued a delayed third-quarter earnings report indicating it had taken a $77.4 million write-down, resulting in a loss of $112.3 million for that quarter. The lawsuit claims the company’s share price fell from $2.84 in October to $1.12 in November following the news.
The company reported a net loss of $110.7 million, or $1.44 per common share, compared with a $26.6 million, or $0.41 per share, during the same period in 2024.
In addition, the firm noted that the U.S. retail segment’s net revenues declined by over 18 percent to $28.5 million during the third quarter, while the U.S. food-service segment’s net revenues dropped by over 27 percent to $10.5 million.
Globally, retail segment’s net revenues fell by 4.6 percent to $15.8 million. The only growth was in the international food-service segment, with net revenues increasing 2.3 percent to $15.3 million.
“Simultaneously, we are taking equally strong measures to accelerate our path to sustainable operations, including pursuing further and sizable cost reductions, gross margin expansion investments and targeted strategic growth initiatives,” Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown said in the statement.
The class action suit accuses the company of “wrongful acts and omissions,” and claims the subsequent market decline of securities has caused shareholders to suffer “significant losses and damages.”
Because of the company’s nondisclosure of “adverse facts” concerning its actual financial condition, the plaintiffs say that many unknowing investors bought Beyond Meat securities at “artificially inflated prices,” and were financially compromised when share prices dropped significantly.
“Had Plaintiff and the other members of the Class known the truth, they would not have purchased or otherwise acquired said securities, or would not have purchased or otherwise acquired them at the inflated prices that were paid,” the lawsuit states.
The plaintiffs are demanding that Beyond Meat pay damages, including pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees and other costs. They are requesting a trial by jury.
Founded in 2009 in El Segunda, California, Beyond Meat uses no animal-based ingredients or added hormones or antibiotics in its products. They are designed to have the same taste and texture as animal-based meat, substituting plant-based ingredients.
Epoch Times reached out to Beyond Meat for comment, but didn’t receive a response by publication time.