In addition to the meat stock, it goes up in partnership with PepsiCo. What else could be behind the change.

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Beyond meat

the stock skyrocketed on Tuesday after the alternative meat maker said it partnered with

PepsiCo

“Although there may be more to the movement.

Beyond Meat (ticker: BYND) and PepsiCo (PEP) announced a new joint venture, The PLANeT Partnership, in which food manufacturers will “develop, produce and market innovative snacks and drinks made from vegetable protein”. The two companies hope to use Beyond Meat’s fake meat technology with Pepsi’s marketing and distribution infrastructure. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Beyond Meat’s shares jumped 25% to $ 198.33 in recent trading; Pepsi was 0.4% higher, at $ 140.76.

Beyond Meat’s stock is well known for great news of partnerships with established food brands. Earlier this year, shares jumped 14% in Beyond’s business with Yum! Brands’ (YUM) Taco Bell. At the end of 2020, the stock shot up almost 10% after the company said it was expanding its distribution with

Walmart

(WMT). Likewise, the stock collapsed 20% after

McDonalds

(MCD) announced its McPlant initiative, as the company, according to previous practices, has not confirmed that it was using Beyond Meat products.

However, there may be more going on than just excitement at the Pepsi news. With just over 38% of its shares shorted – that is, positions that bet on falling stocks – Beyond Meat’s shares can be picked up in the recent speculative trading frenzy that engulfed popular bearish trades. In other words, investors may be racing to reverse their bets that Beyond shares will fall, also known as short squeeze.

GameStop

(GME) is the recent poster boy for this. The shares, which rose 17% in the recent verification, have risen 332% since the beginning of the year. This tightening in the price caused the bears to become creative, but it also affected other stocks with a high short price.

Bed Bath & Beyond

(BBBY) stock is another example. It was hit by two downgrades today, as analysts are unwilling to continue raising their target prices after the shares rose more than 70% in just three weeks.

With an increase of more than 60% in the accumulated of the year, the jump of today and high short interest, Beyond Meat seems to be the main candidate to be included in this group – even if its agreement with Pepsi is, ultimately, an addition to business.

Write to Teresa Rivas at [email protected]