Why Beyond Meat Stock Skyrocketed Today

It isn’t typical for beleaguered alt-protein food product specialist Beyond Meat (BYND +15.18%) to have a good day on the stock market, but that’s what occurred on Friday. After the company announced the dramatic expansion of a new product line, investors piled into its equity, and Beyond Meat shares closed the trading session more than 15% higher.

Drink up!

Beyond Meat announced that it has rolled out four new flavors of its Beyond Immerse line of sparkling drinks. Customers wishing to quaff the company’s offerings infused with plant-based protein, fiber, electrolytes, and antioxidants can now opt for cherry berry, strawberry lemonade, cucumber grapefruit, or piña colada flavors.

Image source: Getty Images.

This more than doubles the product’s variety. Last month, Beyond Meat introduced Beyond Immerse, which at that point was available only in peach mango, lemon lime, and orange tangerine varieties.

In the press release on the new flavors, Beyond Meat quoted founder and CEO Ethan Brown as saying that “Beyond Immerse represents a meaningful next chapter for our brand as we expand beyond center-of-the-plate protein.”

“We challenged ourselves to redefine the protein drink, designing a beverage that immerses the body not only in protein but more broadly in the remarkable power of plants,” he added.

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NASDAQ: BYND

Beyond Meat

Today’s Change

(15.18%) $0.12

Current Price

$0.94

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$372M

Day’s Range

$0.79 - $1.04

52wk Range

$0.50 - $7.69

Volume

913K

Avg Vol

54M

Gross Margin

5.98%

Several of many

While it’s admirable that Beyond Meat is attempting to diversify its product line, it’s stepping into the very crowded specialty beverage segment. The healthy drinks certainly sound appealing; however, they’ll compete with other “enhanced” libations, such as sports beverages. I don’t think this will be the product line that turns Beyond Meat’s fortunes around.