Shares of Beyond Meat (BYND), -6.25 %, which makes plant-based meat alternatives, have jumped 69% in the past two trading sessions, but short sellers are still into getting their hands on this elusive sale. Stock-borrow fees on existing shorts reached 134% in Monday’s session, and other analysts have forecasted that it would reach up to 150% according to fintech and analytics firm S3 Partners.
Short interest stands at $814 million, or 5.87 million shares shorted, representing more than 50% of Beyond Meat’s portfolio. Beyond Meat is the sixth-largest short bet in the domestic packaged foods and meat sector, but bears are down $574 million in mark-to-market losses as the shares keep climbing. The stock is up 570% from its May 2 initial-public-offering price of $25.
“Beyond Meat has hit the short-squeeze trifecta, with several hundred thousand shares of recalls hitting the street; stock borrow rates solidly in the triple digits, and it’s stock price rallying 69% in just two days,” wrote Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director at S3, in a report late Monday.
Dusaniwsky previously said “that the there is little hope of a significant amount of stock landing in lending programs until its 180-day lockups expire on Oct. 29,” but Beyond Meat is yet to pick up the pace.
The analyst also compared Beyond Meat with Tesla, saying that it has the potential to be “Tesla-esque” if shorts don’t start covering their positions soon. By that, he means that Beyond Meat long shareholders would be making a “lifestyle decision,” rather than just an investment call, through their stock ownership.
“There is a very good chance that there will be a Beyond Meat short squeeze very shortly,” Dusaniwsky wrote. “With no additional or impactful short side activity possible, Beyond Meat’s stock price should continue its upward trajectory with very little opposition.”
