Beyond Meat stock tumbles after briefly trading above $200
- Beyond Meat priced its initial public offering at $25 per share in early May.
- Since then, the stock has soared 555%.
- Beyond's stock price is well above the price targets of Wall Street analysts.
Shares of Beyond Meat soared as much as 18% Tuesday morning, briefly surpassing $200 per share and hitting a new all-time high of $201.88.
When the markets opened Tuesday morning, the stock was up 18% and trading for $200 per share. After hitting a new record price for shares, Beyond's stock gave up its gains and is now trading down 4% from Monday's close.
At the beginning of May, the maker of plant-based meats priced its initial public offering at $25 per share. The company's stock is up around 555% since its IPO, a market value of about $9.5 billion.
Beyond's stock price remains well above the price targets of analysts, the highest of which is $123. No one on Wall Street recommends buying the stock anymore because of its hot streak. The stock has been gyrating as analysts have raised concern about its monster run.
Short sellers have also taken an interest in Beyond's hot streak. An investor who wants to short a stock borrows shares then sells them, betting that the price will drop by the time the borrowed shares must be returned. As of Monday, short sellers hold roughly 3.6 million Beyond Meat shares, or 33% of the company's shares that are publicly owned and available for trading, according to data from IHS Markit.
While the market for meat alternatives is growing more crowded as Tyson Foods and Nestle prepare to launch their own plant-based meat imitations, Beyond has been expanding and improving its own products.
Shares of Beyond closed up 12% Monday after the company said that it will start offering its Beyond Beef — plant-based ground beef — in grocery stores. The announcement followed the company's launch of a new, "meatier" version of its Beyond Burger in stores last week.