Beyond Meat shares tumble after JP Morgan downgrades the stock

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Beyond Meat’s (BYND) 572% stock run-up since its initial public offering last month has another analyst anxious over valuation.

JP Morgan Chase analyst Ken Goldman slashed his rating on shares of Beyond Meat to Neutral from Overweight, citing concerns that the stock is too expensive. He raised his price target by a dollar to $121.00 of shares, which would represent a 28% decline from Monday’s closing prices.

“As we wrote last week, ‘At some point, the extraordinary revenue and profit potential embedded in BYND...will be priced in’ — we think this day has arrived,” Goldman said.

Beyond Meat’s stock fell 12.13% around market open Tuesday.

Products from Beyond Meat Inc, the vegan burger maker, are shown for sale at a market in Encinitas, California, U.S., June 5, 2019.  REUTERS/
Products from Beyond Meat Inc, the vegan burger maker, are shown for sale at a market in Encinitas, California, U.S., June 5, 2019. REUTERS/

Shares of the plant-based meat substitute company have skyrocketed in the weeks following its May 2 initial public offering, ballooning to nearly sevenfold their IPO pricing of $25. The company’s stock price at Monday’s close of $168.10 had exceeded the price target of every major Wall Street analyst.

Beyond Meat last week reported first-quarter sales results that exceeded consensus analyst estimates and delivered better-than-expected full-year revenue guidance, further fueling its growth narrative. The company also said it expects to see break-even EBITDA for the full year, while Wall Street expected the company to post a loss. The report sent the stock to what was then an all-time high.

Not every investor has cheered for Beyond Meat’s meteoric stock rise. Short sellers betting that share prices would fall back to earth lost nearly $400 million through last Friday as Beyond Meat’s stock continued to surge, according to S3 Partners data cited by CNBC.

Shares of Beyond Meat had 1 Buy rating equivalent, 8 Holds and 0 Sell ratings as of Tuesday morning, according to Bloomberg data.

Updates with share price moves after market open Tuesday. An update to a previous version of this story corrects JP Morgan’s 12-month price target.

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Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck

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