Beyond Meat falls as early investors get their chance to sell shares

Beyond Meat Inc. fell in late trading despite an increased sales forecast and its first quarterly profit. Investors are bracing for a sell-off on Tuesday, when early backers of the faux meat maker will finally be allowed to cash out.

The maker of meatless beef and sausages said third-quarter sales rose 250% to $92 million, outpacing analysts’ average estimate. The company now sees full-year revenue of $265 million to $275 million, compared with a July projection that it would surpass $240 million.

Beyond Meat’s shares dropped for a second straight time after reporting earnings even amid increasingly optimistic projections. In July, the stock fell after the company announced a secondary offering. Now, with early backers expected to cash in on the company’s surge since its IPO, market factors are once again outweighing performance.

Regardless of stock market activity, the sales outlook is rosy. Beyond Meat, based in El Segundo, has been steadily adding restaurant partners. The latest, announced earlier Monday, is Denny’s. Dunkin’ restaurants are also taking the company’s plant-based breakfast sausage across the U.S. Retail, restaurant and food service channels have all seen increased volumes, the company said in the release.

Investors are eager to hear about more tie-ins, especially with big restaurant chains. In September, Beyond Meat announced a test in Canada in McDonald’s. On Monday’s call with analysts, Chief Executive Ethan Brown said he is “very optimistic about the long-term relationship” with McDonald’s and has “every expectation” that the test will lead to more work together. But ultimately, it will be up to the restaurant chain to make that announcement, he said.

Beyond Meat shares fell as much as 14% in after-hours trading on Monday before paring much of the loss. The share decline of about 8.7% at 2:53 p.m. PDT may just be a blip on the radar for the company, whose stock has soared more than 320% since its IPO in May.