Reddit investors are still chasing the high of locking in and driving up GameStop stock four years ago. This time, their meme stock of choice is Beyond Meat. The company behind the plant-based meat you briefly glance at before settling for cheaper ground chuck is the focus of another social-media-driven short squeeze that has helped push the stock up ~250% this week, alongside news of an expanded distribution deal with Walmart.
The stock pop was spurred by Dubai-based real estate developer Dimitri Semenikhin, who goes by Capybara Stocks on social media. His original Reddit post hyping up Beyond Meat was removed, but he told Business Insider that he bought 4% of its stock and concluded that the company’s most recent debt deal could be a better sign than most investors thought:
- Last week, Beyond completed a convertible debt swap that quadrupled its share count, resulting in a significant drop in share price from just above $2 to around 50 cents per share.
- The stock closed at $3.62 per share yesterday.
Big picture: The rally came after years of Beyond losing steam. The company led a fake meat revolution to its 2019 IPO, wielding a $230 price per share, before the entire market seemed to stagnate as consumers lost their appetite for alternative protein.—MM
This report was originally published by Morning Brew.