Shares of Beyond Meat surged in trading on Wednesday, gaining more than 50 percent in value and extending a four-day climb of more than 1,000 percent. The rise has drawn comparisons to the periodic meme-stock rallies that have disrupted markets in recent years.
The momentum started building late last week, as large volumes of purchases suddenly began pushing the stock price up and traders egged each other on in Reddit boards and YouTube comments. Earlier in the week, Beyond Meat swapped a large amount of debt for stock, diluting shareholders and leading to a sharp fall in its stock price, which sank to around 50 cents per share. That appears to have attracted retail traders who have embraced the strategy of “Buy the dip.”
The loss-making company’s growth has slowed in recent years, as consumers squeezed by inflation have traded pricier plant-based meat for less-expensive animal meat. Analysts have also wondered if once high-flying companies like Beyond Meat have simply reached the maximum number of consumers willing to try or repeatedly purchase faux burgers and sausage. Two-thirds of the analysts who cover the stock rate it a “sell,” according to FactSet.
Beyond Meat surged in its market debut in 2019, and at its peak later that year was worth roughly $14 billion. Even after the recent rally, the company’s stock is down about 97 percent from its record high. The tumbling share price made Beyond Meat a favorite target of so-called short sellers, who sell borrowed stock in hopes of buying it back at a lower price later and pocketing the profit. When a heavily shorted stock starts to rise, it can gain sudden momentum as the short-sellers rush to buy back the stock they borrowed to protect themselves from losing more money.
The Beyond Meat mania has the ingredients of a “classic meme cocktail,” said Ivan Cosovic, managing director of Breakout Point, a firm that tracks retail investing trends. The number of comments on Reddit about Beyond Meat’s stock have exploded this month, from a handful per day to several hundred in the past three days. Plays on the stock’s ticker — BYND — are popular, as in “To infinity and BYND !!! Let’s gooo.”
The sudden surge in Beyond Meat bears resemblance to the infamous GameStop rally of 2021, where trader Keith Gill, known online as “Roaring Kitty,” rallied a group of retail traders to drive GameStop’s price sky-high. Similar to Mr. Gill, a Dubai-based trader who goes by “Capybara Stocks” on social media has been at the forefront of the push to buy Beyond Meat’s shares.
In 2021, companies like AMC Entertainment, GameStop and BlackBerry were at the center of a trading frenzy led by retail investors. Their prices spiked dramatically before eventually falling back, despite limited changes to their businesses.
In the summer, meme stocks returned again as traders latched onto Krispy Kreme, Opendoor, Rocket Mortgage and Kohls, four stocks collectively named “DORK” for their ticker symbols.
Bernhard Warner contributed reporting.
Kailyn Rhone is a Times business reporter and the 2025 David Carr fellow.
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