What's Next For Beyond Meat?

Beyond Meat was definitely one of the Wall Street darling IPOs this year, with shares rising more than 800% to hit a high of $239.71 in late July. Shares have cooled since, and are trading at a more reasonable $155.26 a share as of Friday’s close, which is still a more than 500% gain from the $25 IPO price.

The company got beat down earlier in the week when Tim Horton’s announced they are pulling the Beyond Meat Burger from most of their locations in Canada. Shares fell nearly 4% on Wednesday following the news.

Further bad news came on Thursday, when rival Impossible Burger said their plant-based Impossible Burger will hit grocery store shelves on Friday. Beyond Meat shares were up 0.22% on Friday.

It hasn’t been all bad news however. On Thursday, Barclay’s analyst Benjamin Theurer initiated coverage with an overweight rating and set a price target of $185 on the stock. He said that despite the already massive gains for the stock this year, it ”provides growth and earnings acceleration unparalleled in the space.”

Theurer estimates that Beyond Meat can capture a 4.5% market share of the global alternative meat industry, which he says could reach $150 billion within a decade. That gives the company huge potential on both the top and bottom lines.

Shares dropped below their 50-day moving average in mid-August and have seen that level acting as resistance. The line currently sits just above $168 a share and price needs to move beyond that level before we could say the bullishness in the stock has resumed.