How long can a company last by selling products for less than it costs to make them? One would imagine not for very long, but Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) seems willing to try to find out, as its fourth-quarter earnings results showed sales tumbling 21% for the period while its costs skyrocketed 27%, resulting in negative gross margins of 3.7%.

The market seemed to focus instead on Beyond Meat's net losses narrowing to $66 million from last year's $80 million loss, and ran the stock some 10% higher in the process (it had been up as much as 33% at one point). But its results mean that it cost the company $1.84 for every $1 in plant-based burgers it sold.

Beyond Meat did beat Wall Street expectations on the top and bottom lines, but if you set the bar low enough, anyone can easily step over it. This was not a good quarter for the maker of meat substitutes or its investors, and the risk of a further implosion for the food stock is rising.

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Source Fool.com