Beyond Meat lowered its revenue forecast to range between $400 million and $425 million
The shares of Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) are down 3.5% to trade at $14.26 this morning, after the alternative meat name announced it slashed 200 jobs, or 19% of its workforce. Plus, the company lowered its annual revenue forecast to range between $400 million and $425 million due to increased competition and surging inflation, noting consumers are now favoring more affordable forms of protein.
Put traders are already blasting the equity in response. So far today, 26,000 puts have been exchanged, or 10 times the volume that's typically seen at this point, compared to 5,335 calls. Most popular is the October 14 put, followed by the 13.50 put in that monthly series, with positions being opened at both.
Now looks like a good time to weigh in on Beyond Meat stock's next moves with options. This is per the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 76 out of 100, which means BYND has generally exceeded option traders' volatility expectations over the last year.
Shorts have been piling on the equity of late, with short interest up a whopping 16.9% over the last two reporting periods. The 22.49 million shares sold short make up 38.8% of the stock's available float, or more than one week's worth of pent-up buying power.
The security is trading dangerously close to its Oct. 10, all-time low of $12.76, as it struggles to overcome overhead pressure at the 20-day moving average, which has been in place since mid-August. Year-over-year, Beyond Meat stock carries a hefty 85.7% deficit.