Beyond Meat, the plant-based food company that makes vegan burgers that look like the real thing, is denying rumors it is planning to file for bankruptcy soon amid plummeting sales.

The company, which pioneered and popularized hyper-realistic plant-based “meat” products that resemble burgers, chicken tenders, and more has been struggling financially, and recent media reports suggested it is headed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“We have not filed, nor are we planning to file, for bankruptcy,” a Beyond Meat spokesperson said in a statement to Plant Based News, calling the rumors “unequivocally false.”

However, the numbers do not look good.

Beyond Meat’s revenue fell 19% year-over-year to $75 million in the second quarter this year. It has seen a total net loss of $29.2 million and an operating loss of $34.9 million this year.

The company’s CEO Ethan Brown said they were “disappointed” with the low numbers and blamed “ongoing softness in the plant-based meat category.”

In the wake of its money problems, the company has slashed its workforce and says it plans to eliminate about 6% of its workers in hopes of becoming profitable by 2026. It also suspended operations in China.

End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships

Beyond Meat is also doing a major rebrand — it will reportedly drop “Meat” from its name and be known as simply Beyond to distance itself from meat and emphasize its plant protein ingredients.

Some of Beyond Meat’s vegan burgers are concocted in a way that makes them sizzle, sear, and even bleed like real burgers.

However, after years of promises that vegan “meat” was here to stay, plant-based meat companies are still grappling with the fact that Americans overwhelmingly prefer real meat, which is also usually cheaper.

Also, in the years since Beyond Meat’s launch, grocery stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, as well as other food companies, have launched their own versions of vegan “meat” products, eating into Beyond Meat’s market.

The company’s share price has plummeted 97% over the past five years despite much hoopla when the company went public in 2019. At its peak, Beyond Meat was trading at a whopping $10 billion. Now its market capitalization is around $200 million.

Other vegan meat companies like Impossible Foods, known for its “Impossible Burger,” are also struggling — the company has had multiple rounds of layoffs despite originally attracting billions in funding from investors like Bill Gates and Google Ventures.

The CEO of Impossible Foods even suggested his company might start blending real beef into its burgers in a bid to attract people who eat both real meat and plant-based meat.

The Justice Department sued California on Thursday over the state’s strict emissions regulations imposed on heavy-duty trucks. 

The department challenged the California Air Resources Board (CARB) over its “Clean Truck Partnership” that pushes truck manufacturers to phase out internal-combustion engines in favor of “zero emission” engines by 2036. Two separate challenges were filed: One to heavy-duty truck restrictions and another to the guidelines for light-duty vehicles. 

“Agreement, contract, partnership, mandate — whatever California wants to call it, this unlawful action attempts to undermine federal law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “President Donald Trump and Congress have invalidated the Clean Air Act waivers that were the basis for California’s actions. CARB must respect the democratic process and stop enforcing unlawful standards.”

The DOJ is joining a lawsuit brought by several truck manufacturers, including Daimler and Volvo, challenging California over its strident emissions standards. 

In its filings, the Justice Department argued that California was illegally trying to supersede federal environmental regulations. California first received approvals from the Biden administration to impose harsher emission standards. 

President Donald Trump signed congressional resolutions in June 2025 invalidating the waivers granted by the Biden administration. 

“Without these waivers, the Clean Air Act prohibits [the California Air Resources Board] from attempting to enforce those regulations,” the Justice Department said. “Yet, in an affront to the rule of law, [the California Air Resources Board] seeks to circumvent that prohibition by enforcing the preempted emissions standards through the Clean Truck Partnership.”

End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships

The Justice Department argued that California was effectively attempting to “impose a nationwide ban on internal-combustion engines in heavy-duty trucks by 2036” through the regulations promulgated through the “Clean Truck Partnership.” 

“The decision whether to ban internal-combustion engines in heavy-duty trucks rests ultimately with the federal government. And it has declined to take such a far-reaching step,” the suit said. “CARB continues to threaten truck manufacturers who refuse to comply with its preempted regulations with severe civil sanctions and hostile regulatory treatment.”