Beyond Meat’s stock is still rising, but the ride is getting a bit rough

Shares of Beyond Meat Inc. rose again Tuesday to extend the rocket ride of the past week, but it wasn’t very smooth sailing for investors.

The plant-based meat company’s stock BYND, +4.79%^[1]  soared out of the gate Tuesday, gaining as much as 18.2% to touch an intraday high of $135.23 at 9:45 a.m. Eastern. The stock then pulled a sharp U-turn, steep enough to trigger a 5-minute volatility halt starting at 9:56 a.m., and was up just 3.6% at an intraday low of $118.51 around 10:01 a.m.

Since then, the stock has seesawed in a range of up 11.9% to down 0.1% at the current intraday low of $114.28.

It was up 4.8% in afternoon trading at $119.80. Volume was 38.9 million shares, to make the stock the most active on the Nasdaq exchange, and more than six times the full-day average.

The stock started soaring last week^[2], with a 12.5% kick off on Jan. 7, after privately held rival Impossible Burger said it was adding a pork substitute to its plant-based menu^[3], and that it would introduce plant-based substitutes for lamb, goat, fish and dairy in the near future.The stock kept rising, and has now run up 61% in 6 days. Rather than view a new rival product as a headwind for Beyond Meat, some industry experts suggested increasing competition could indicate that plant-based meats are no longer just a novelty option, but have gone mainstream. Don’t miss: Beyond Meat, Tyson’s Raised & Rooted and other plant-based foods are officially mainstream^[4].On Monday, Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. DNKN, +0.54%^[5]  and Beyond Meat ambassador and investor Snoop Dogg introduced The Beyond D-O-Double G breakfast sandwich, to be available at Dunkin’ restaurants nationwide, but only through Jan. 19.

The sandwich will feature a Beyond Breakfast Sausage patty, egg and cheese, and will be served on a sliced glazed donut.

Despite the stock’s recent rally, it was still down 5.2% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.18%^[6]  has gained 11.0%. The price chart since the company went public on May 2, 2019 looks similar to Tuesday’s intraday chart....

The stock closed its first day at $65.75, or 163% above its initial public offering price of $25. It kept rallying to closing peak of $234.90 on July 26, then lost about two-thirds