Topline

A dayslong rally continued Wednesday for Beyond Meat, whose shares have jumped more than 1,000% since hitting a new low last week, as traders flocked to the plant-based meat distributor’s stock as the next meme asset.

Wall Street previously forecast the plant-based meat firm as a “Reddit stock to watch.”

Getty ImagesKey Facts

Shares of Beyond Meat surged 63% to around $5.80 shortly after trading opened Wednesday, adding to a rally that began Oct. 17 and setting an intraday high for the year so far.

Beyond Meat’s stock hit an all-time intraday low of $0.50 on Oct. 16, capping what was a 75% decline on the week after the company announced its creditors had accepted a debt swap that would substantially dilute shareholders.

While it’s unclear why the stock rebounded roughly 24% last Friday, Beyond Meat’s shares have surged 1,096% as of Wednesday’s trading price since hitting an intraday low.

Why Are Beyond Meat’s Shares Exploding?

After a slight boost on Oct. 17, Business Insider reported Monday on a trader named Demitri Semenikhin, who had been pushing Beyond Meat’s stock on Reddit after announcing he’d acquired a 4% stake. Semenikhin was bullish on Beyond Meat’s debt movement, suggesting in a YouTube video under the name “Cabybara Stocks” the move had “[removed] its previously high risk of bankruptcy and greatly [strengthened] its balance sheet.” Beyond Meat’s shares rallied 127% on Monday and continued rising after the bell, after Roundhill Investment announced Beyond Meat as its latest addition to its Roundhill Meme Stock ETF, which features positions for Opendoor, USA Rare Earth, Hims and Oklo, among others. The stock’s rally continued Tuesday, rising another 146.2%, as Beyond Meat announced a distribution deal with Walmart while expanding its product availability to more than 2,000 stores nationwide.

Big Number

$234.90. That’s Beyond Meat’s all-time high record share price set on July 26, 2019, a far cry—representing a 97% decline—from the stock’s current price.

Key Background

Beyond Meat emerged during the pandemic as a healthier alternative, with more people opting for plant-based protein over meat. Consumer demand has declined in recent years, with sales down 20% last quarter, as shares have plummeted by more than 70% on the year. Other plant-based meat firms have dropped as demand softened, including Unreal Food, Sun Milk, Noops and OceanTastes, among others. Beyond Meat, whose IPO came in 2019, quickly became a penny stock after trading around $230 during its peak, though it was briefly heralded by Bank of America analysts in 2021 among its “Reddit stock to watch” watchlist before it ended the same year down more than 47%.

Further Reading

Meet The Retail Investor Trying To Do For Beyond Meat What Roaring Kitty Did For GameStop (Business Insider)