Red-Hot Beyond Meat Stock Sinks on Surprise Bear Note

Analysts were pessimistic heading into today already

Emma Duncan

Managing Editor

Jan 15, 2020 at 9:05 AM

BYND

Veggie burger maker Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) is down 4.1% this morning to trade at $112.20, after receiving a downgrade to "market perform" from "outperform" at Bernstein. The analyst slam comes on the heels of Beyond Meat's announcement it has entered into a multi-year pea protein supply deal with Roquette Frères. Bernstein analyst Alexia Howard said the company's risk vs. reward has become less attractive. Coming into today, eight of 12 covering firms sport a "hold" or worse recommendation.

BYND has had a hot start to 2020. Earlier this month the equity overcame long-term resistance from the 20-day moving average, and just yesterday nabbed its highest close since Oct. 17. Ahead of today's plunge, Beyond Meat stock was up 54% year-to-date.

Short sellers are likely cheering today's pullback. Short interest on BYND has surged 44.5% during the past two reporting periods, and now accounts for 39.4% of the stock's total available float. At the equity's average pace of daily trading, it would take short sellers almost two days to buy back their bearish bets.

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