The rise of plant-based food companies has been pretty unstoppable over the last few years. One of the key firms spearheading this movement, Beyond Meat, has been a popular choice. But for all of the company’s hype and success, it looks like its shares have been losing ground lately.
Here’s why traders have been opting to sell Beyond Meat shares, along with the other stocks that are blowing hot and cold right now.
What do we know about Beyond Meat (BYND) stock?
Based in California, Beyond Meat was founded in 2009 and took the world by storm with its tasty plant-based meat substitutes. The business grew extremely quickly, leading to a hotly-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) in May 2019, making shares in the company available to the public for the first time.
Since then, it has been a rather turbulent time in the market. Just as Tesla is difficult to compare with other car manufacturers, Beyond Meat is not valued like other food producers.
Because the company is valued more like a tech firm, its stock has gone through lots of volatility, with the market struggling to pin down a fair valuation. But recently, there’s been more downs than ups, and it seems like Beyond meat has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire as traders continue selling their shares.
Why are traders selling Beyond Meat stock?
Back when the company started out, it had some unique advantages:
- The plant-based and vegan movements hadn’t hit their mainstream stride
- Beyond Meat products were far superior in taste to anything else available
- The lack of proper competition meant the company could win a lot of business and grow quickly
However, as the years have gone by, many of Beyond Meat’s advantages have evaporated. And it’s led investors to lose faith in the stock.
According to FinecoBank, a whopping 100% of trades involving the shares were sell orders. This came after a Q3 warning from the company that their revenue levels were going to be weak and not as saucy as expected.
Beyond Meat put their poor performance down to the coronavirus pandemic, an excuse that seems to have been used as a ‘get out of jail free card’ by many firms. But investors weren’t buying it, and the mood around the shares turned sour.
However, it’s not all bad news for Beyond Meat stock. The share price did rebound briefly after news broke that McDonald’s would be testing Beyond Meat patties for the upcoming ‘McPlant’ burger.
What other stocks are traders buying and selling?
Here are the other shares that have been attracting a lot of heat recently.
Ocugen (OCGN)
This was the top mover on the FinecoBank platform following some good news around the approval of a new Covid-19 vaccine.
It’s a vaccine that Ocugen has the right to distribute in the US, meaning a big payday could be on the horizon. However, not everyone has been convinced that this is a sure bet, and opinions were split 50/50 between buyers and sellers.
J Sainsbury (SBRY)
Just over half of investors (53%) have been buying these supermarket shares and the rest (47%) have been selling.
Sainsbury’s has surprisingly managed to bump up its profits. This comes despite the well-reported supply chain and inflation issues you’ve probably read about so much.
Lucid Group (LCID)
With another price boom for Tesla, EV stocks are back in pole position. Lucid delivered its first electric vehicle recently, and so 47% of traders were buying their stock, seeing them as a potential competitor to Tesla.
However, the remaining 53% of investors haven’t bought into the hype and have seen this good news as an opportunity to shift some of their shares.
How can you invest in Beyond Meat stock and other shares?
Nowadays, Beyond Meat is not the only kid on the block when it comes to plant-based foods. If you have your own opinions on where the food sector is going next, you can easily fill up your plate with a healthy selection of investments.
For those who plan to buy or sell shares regularly, it’s really important to use a cheap share dealing account in order to keep your costs to a minimum. This will mean keeping much more of any potential profits you make.
It’s also worth using an account like the FinecoBank stocks and shares ISA. Any trades made within one of these accounts will not be subject to tax, so you can keep hold of even more of your money.
Just remember that all investing carries risk and you may get out less than you put in.
And if you are stuck for investing inspiration, our Share Advisor service can offer some valuable guidance.
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About the author
George is a writer and qualified financial adviser focused on educating others in personal finance & investing.
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