True to its volatile nature, shares of Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) have been swinging between high and low this week. After soaring over 12% on Tuesday and gaining around 5% at market open on Wednesday, the stock has been fluctuating and is currently down 2% in afternoon trade.
Beyond Meat has been getting attention this week thanks to its rival Impossible Foods, which rolled out new products and also withdrew from a supply deal with McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) due to inadequate production capacity.
Some analysts believe the exit of Impossible Foods from the
McDonald’s deal creates an opportunity for Beyond Meat. McDonald’s is already
testing a plant-based burger in select locations in Canada and has now expanded
this trial to 52 restaurants.
Although Beyond Meat has previously faced production
capacity issues, the company has scaled its production levels significantly
both domestically and internationally to meet its increasing demand. It already
has several partnerships in place with restaurants and fast food chains for its
products.
The company believes its efforts in innovation and marketing
will help drive revenues going forward. The increasing shift towards vegetarian
and vegan diets and the growing demand for plant-based foods is expected to benefit
the company’s topline going forward.
The majority of analysts have rated the stock as Hold and it has an average price target of $112.91, which represents an upside of 36% from the current price.
In its most recent quarter, Beyond Meat achieved profitability and exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom line results. Revenues nearly tripled year-over-year to $92 million while EPS totaled $0.06.
Beyond Meat will report its fourth quarter 2019 earnings
results on January 27. Analysts have forecast earnings of $0.01 per share on
revenue of $76.3 million.