Meme stock Beyond Meat blows nearly 50% of recent gains in wild day of trading

By James Rogers and Joseph Adinolfi

Shares of the maker of plant-based meat substitutes had risen by roughly 1,400% at Wednesday's high

Shares of Beyond Meat are continuing their rally as meme-stock buzz continues to swirl around the meat-substitute company.

Shares of Beyond Meat Inc. initially soared on Wednesday as a blistering meme-stock rally continued for a fourth day. But the stock has hit the skids more recently - erasing nearly half of its gains from the past four sessions amdi what is shaping up to be a wild day of trading.

Beyond Meat (BYND) closed at 52 cents on Thursday, the stock's lowest level on record. But starting Friday, the stock started to climb, with its advance really picking up speed during the overnight session heading into Monday.

At Wednesday's session high, Beyond Meat was trading at $7.69 a share, a gain of 1,378.9% since Thursday's close, according to Dow Jones Market Data. More recently, the stock was trading at $3.93, having wiped out nearly half of the gains from its four-day advance.

Beyond Meat's advance stalled amid a broader unwind in shares of high-flying but unprofitable companies. The stock was up by about 5% on the day in recent trading, FactSet data showed, after it had risen by more than 112% at its session peak.

The stock's wild ride has led to a number of trading halts. Trading of Beyond Meat shares was halted 14 times for volatility on Wednesday alone, according to Nasdaq data.

Trading volume in shares of Beyond Meat, as well as its options, has exploded this week. More than 2 billion shares changed hands on Tuesday, the most on record. So far this week, "BYND" has been one of the most active ticker symbols on the entire U.S. stock market.

At the same time, more than 18.8 million call options tied to Beyond Meat changed hands on Tuesday, the most ever in a single day. More than 645,000 Beyond Meat put options changed hands, also a record high.

Wednesday's pullback notwithstanding, Beyond Meat's eye-watering gains have drawn comparisons with the meme-stock frenzy that sent shares of GameStop Corp. (GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC) soaring in 2021. Lately, a new crop of meme stocks has emerged, including Opendoor Technologies Inc. (OPEN) and Krispy Kreme Inc. (DNUT). The doughnut chain's shares were up more than 12% in recent trade. Shares of GoPro Inc. (GPRO), considered by some to be a member of the latest cohort of meme stocks, were also higher, up 4.9% on the day in recent trade.

Joseph Saluzzi of Themis Trading said the action in Beyond Meat exhibited all the typical characteristics of a meme stock: elevated short interest, a weak fundamental business and a healthy dose of drama. Martin Shkreli, once known as the "pharma bro" due to the controversial drug-pricing policies of a company he formerly led, said he was betting against Beyond Meat in a recent post on X. Shkreli had posted on X about betting against Opendoor earlier this year.

Saluzzi said these types of posts helped to elevate the drama surrounding meme stocks. As traders flocked to social-media platforms such as X and Reddit to cheer on the stock's rally, the emergence of some high-profile bears added an extra layer of excitement.

See: Shares of Beyond Meat soar nearly 300% in torrid meme-stock rally. Here's what's going on.

"These things kind of take on a life of their own - whether it's short covering or people jumping on board, the effect is the same," Saluzzi said. "Everybody is looking for the next momentum move, and this happens to be the flavor of the day. I wouldn't be shocked if a few others start to pop."

While interest in the stock might be exploding on social media, the outlook for Beyond Meat's business remains challenged, Saluzzi pointed out. Sales have been shrinking over the past few years, while the business has continued to burn cash. As of the end of September, 10.4% of Beyond Meat's shares were held short, according to Dow Jones Market Data - a not-insignificant proportion.

Data: These are the most heavily shorted U.S. stocks

But the company has benefited from some positive news recently. On Tuesday, Beyond Meat announced a partnership with Walmart Inc. (WMT) to sell Beyond Meat's products in more Walmart stores. Last week, the company completed a deal whereby it swapped more than 300 million shares for outstanding convertible debt, which helped to clean up its balance sheet. However, existing shareholders saw their stakes diluted, which helped weigh on the stock last week.

Some on social media have spun this as a positive, saying that, in retiring debt, Beyond Meat had helped alleviate some of the financial pressure facing its business.

Beyond Meat shares ended Tuesday's session with a 146.3% gain, the biggest percentage-point gain for the company on record. At midday Wednesday the stock was up about 10%.

The stock's Tuesday spike surpassed GameStop's biggest daily gain during the height of the 2021 meme-stock explosion, which was 134.8% on Jan. 27 of that year, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

AMC's biggest daily gain was even more explosive. The stock climbed 301.2% on Jan. 27, 2021.

Shares of Opendoor, the most prominent name in the 2025 meme-stock cohort, registered the biggest daily percentage gain on record on Sept. 11, climbing 79.5%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Derek Horstmeyer, a professor of finance at the Costello College of Business at George Mason University, told MarketWatch that, as a household name with a good story around it, Beyond Meat was "a prime candidate" to reverse recent declines that pushed the stock down to its record low of around 50 cents last week. But Horstmeyer said it is important to put things in context. He noted that, even as Beyond Meat was being treated to a history-making one-day gain, the stock ended Tuesday's session below the price at which it started 2025.

Idoia Linacero contributed.

-James Rogers -Joseph Adinolfi

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10-22-25 1418ET