Beyond Meat (BYND) Meat, Inc. Report shares edged higher Tuesday after the plant-based food producer said it received a favorable ruling in an ongoing trade secrets case with Don Lee Farms.
Beyond Meat said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly J. Fujie ruled that two key claims of misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition raised by Don Lee Farms -- a former manufacturing partner -- would not proceed to trial, which is set for September 22.
Earlier this year, California's Superior Court ruled the Beyond Meat pay around $400,000 owed to Don Lee farms as part of the contract it severed in 2017.
"Although Don Lee Farms had no prior experience manufacturing plant-based meat products, it claimed it owned the procedures for manufacturing Beyond Meat’s proprietary plant-based meat products," Beyond Meat said in a statement. "The Court has now outright rejected that claim."
Beyond Meat shares were marked 0.46% higher in pre-market trading, reversing an earlier decline, to indicate an opening bell price of $120.85 each.
Earlier this month, Beyond Meat posted a wider-than-expected second quarter loss of 31 cents per share, on sales of $149.4 million.
It also forecast softer third quarter sales of between $120 million to $140 million as restaurants grow more cautious on food orders amid the summer rise in Delta-variant coronavirus infections.
"We believe it's prudent to call out that due to recent increases in COVID-19 infection rates stemming from the Delta variant, we're seeing some early signs of a return to a more cautionary stance across certain parts of the Foodservice sector," CFO Philip Hardin told investors on August 6. .
"There continues to be uncertainty, particularly in Foodservice channels related to the COVID-19 infection rates in the Delta variant, as well as reimplementation of safety measures in certain jurisdictions and potential impact on customer demand levels," he noted. "Although we generally expect to see continued year-over-year growth in our Foodservice business for the balance of the year, albeit at a more moderate pace than what we saw in Q2."