Tech

Beyond Meat soars on Denny's deal as rest of market slides

Key Points
  • The Denny's restaurant chain will expand a Los Angeles launch of the plant-based Beyond burgers to locations across the U.S. and Canada.
  • Beyond Meat shares climbed more than 4% on the news.
  • Beyond's gains come amid a broader market drop as companies react to the coronavirus outbreak.
In this May 2, 2019, file photo Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown, center, watches as his company's stock begins to trade following its IPO at Nasdaq in New York.
Mark Lennihan | AP

Beyond Meat shares finished out the day up 4.4% on Monday after it announced an expansion of its partnership with Denny's.

The Denny's restaurant chain will expand a Los Angeles launch of the plant-based Beyond burgers to locations across the U.S. and Canada, the two companies announced Monday. Denny's rolled out Beyond burgers at its LA locations in October.

Beyond's gains come amid a broader market drop as companies react to the coronavirus outbreak. All three major U.S. indexes fell more than 1% Monday.

The latest news comes as Beyond Meat competes with its main rival, Impossible Foods, for sought-after partnerships with American fast-food chains.

Since it went public in May of last year, Beyond Meat has announced partnerships with Subway, Del Taco, KFC, Dunkin' Brands and others.

Beyond Meat has been a volatile stock since its public debut. Shares jumped 163% on the first day of trading, and its highest closing price of nearly $235 in July was more than $200 above its IPO price.

The stock then came crashing back to earth. As the stock slumped from its peak, Beyond Meat announced a secondary offering and shares fell more than 10%. Then, as a lockup from the IPO expired at the end of October, allowing early investors and insiders to sell their shares, the stock fell back below $100 per share.

— CNBC's Jesse Pound contributed to this report.

Beyond Meat's big week
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Beyond Meat's big week