Beyond Meat’s comeback triggers record in retail trading

The resurrection of Beyond Meat Inc.’s meme status not only lifted the producer of meatless burger patties from record lows, but also incited a frenzy of retail trading activity.

Do-it-yourself investors traded furiously in Beyond Meat, quantum computing stocks, crypto-linked firms and more this week. On Tuesday, retail was responsible for 16% of total single-stock trading volume, the most on record in data stretching back to 2018, according to Citigroup Inc. Around $1.3 billion of total volume was traded on Tuesday alone, figures showed.

“BYND made a come-back as a popular meme stock, and traded more shares over the past 3 days than any other stock,” strategists including Vivek Vishal wrote in a note dated Thursday, referring to Beyond Meat by its ticker symbol. “Citi’s retail trading activity monitor is up sharply to all-time-high levels, driven by the re-emergence of BYND as a meme stock, among others.”

Beyond Meat was a retail-trader darling during the pandemic, alongside the likes of GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. Citi strategists pointed to the latest set of favorites that have emerged since President Trump returned to the Oval Office.

The high level of retail trading on Tuesday was “consistent with elevated volumes in October-to-date, and indeed this year, driven by investor focus in the crypto, AI and gold space,” the strategists wrote.

Retail activity showed little sign of subsiding on Thursday. Nonprofessional traders shelled out $895 million on stocks and exchange-traded funds as of 11 a.m. in New York, the top 14th percentile of readings going back a year ago, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. They showed a preference for single stocks compared with ETFs and were heavy buyers of quantum computing names, as well as the SPDR Gold Shares ETF and the iShares Silver Trust.

Beyond Meat’s stock careened to record lows last week when the company said nearly all creditors had accepted a debt swap that will result in a substantial dilution for shareholders.

Shares then embarked on a dizzying four-day rally, surging more than 1,300% through Wednesday’s intraday peak before heading back to earth.

By the end of Wednesday’s session the retail set’s affections had shifted. The plant-based protein maker erased a 112% intraday gain to finish the session 1.4% lower, capping off a turbulent run for the latest firm to become involved in a resurgence of meme-stock mania.

Leon writes for Bloomberg.