Author: Azuma, Odaily Planet Daily
Do you remember the "retail investors vs. Wall Street" drama surrounding GameStop (GME) four years ago?
In early 2021, a group of retail investors, centered on the WallStreetBets (WSB) forum on Reddit, discovered that GameStop (GME) stock was being openly shorted by prominent short-sellers like Citron Research and Melvin Capital. They then decided to buy a large amount of spot stock and call options (of course, this was also fueled by other opposing institutions), aiming to drive up the stock price and sniper the short-sellers. The ultimate outcome was a rapid surge in GameStop (GME) prices, prompting short-sellers to concede and close their positions. Citron Research suffered heavy losses, and Melvin Capital was even on the verge of bankruptcy. For years afterwards, this "battle" was seen as a landmark victory for retail investors versus Wall Street, and was widely discussed in the market.
A similar scenario is now unfolding for another company, Beyond Meat (BYND). In the US stock market, Beyond Meat (BYND) closed at $3.62 yesterday, a single-day surge of 146.26%.
Beyond Meat (BYND) is an artificial meat company. After its IPO in 2019, the company's stock price soared to a peak of US$239.71. However, it then plummeted due to the market environment and operating conditions (five consecutive years of losses), falling to a historic low of US$0.6 at the beginning of this month.
Although Beyond Meat's (BYND) recent stock price recovery is also related to the improvement of the company's operating fundamentals (it announced a partnership with Walmart this week, and its products can be listed in more than 2,000 Walmart stores), the main reason for this surge is indeed the concentrated buying by retail investors.
Stock and cryptocurrency trader ₿IGRYAN (@BigRyanPark) said on X: "Retail investors have driven the stock up more than 360%... This has caused concern among hedge funds, which are short 54.01% of the outstanding shares. The magnitude of this rally is not yet enough to cause trouble for hedge funds, but this situation may change because the internet loves this kind of good story..."
According to an updated CNBC report, FactSet data shows that over 63% of Beyond Meat (BYND)'s tradable shares have been sold short. Furthermore, Roundhill Investments has added the stock to its meme-themed ETF, the Roundhill Meme Stock ETF (MEME), further exacerbating the market's short squeeze.
On Reddit, the base camp of the last round of GameStop (GME) battle, Beyond Meat (BYND) is becoming the latest focus of discussion. Below are some brief excerpts of community comments.
Reddit user @cornecorne2 offered a fairly rational analysis: In rare cases (the GameStop incident in 2021 being the first), individual investors or other hedge funds create buying pressure, driving the stock price up rapidly. Since a large number of investors hold short positions and put options at this time, a "gamma squeeze" may be triggered. Amidst the market's frenzied FOMO sentiment, thousands of new investors will flood into the market, all bullish, and short sellers will be trapped because there are no more stocks to short, forcing them to close their positions. This can cause the stock price to soar 10-fold to over 100-fold in a matter of days, weeks, or even months. Therefore, BYND is still in the very early stages of this situation. If you set a take-profit order rashly, you may regret it when the "gamma squeeze" and short squeeze actually occur.
Reddit user @No_Feedback_630 said: "The WallStreetBets section keeps deleting BYND posts, but today's trading volume exceeded 1 billion - this situation is exactly the same as the GameStop incident. The more they try to suppress the discussion, the more this matter will ferment into major news."
Reddit user @NoPixel_ said: Operating BYND today made me dream back to the golden years of 2021.
Reddit user @hxtimx commented: "For years, those big institutions, hedge funds, and short sellers have been playing us, laughing from behind their screens as retail investors get crushed. Now? We see the truth. Every piece of fake news, every manipulative short squeeze attempt is their doing. Now is our turn. The short sellers' time is running out. When they close their positions, it will be ugly—and we will witness firsthand how chaos turns to profit. Buy! Hold! Watch their death throes!"
In addition to various radical bullish remarks, the rest are mostly about BYND price predictions, $4, $6, $10, $100... the numbers are getting crazier and crazier.
As Beyond Meat (BYND) continues to gain popularity, some projects within the industry have sensed an opportunity. Last night, Vest, a contract exchange that supports US stock trading in the form of derivatives, announced the launch of BYND contract trading, offering up to 5x leverage.
That said, while the hype surrounding Beyond Meat (BYND) has reached a certain scale, it still pales in comparison to the massive hype surrounding GameStop (GME). Furthermore, similar scenarios often do not always end in the same way. The content in this article is merely a description of the phenomenon and is not intended as an investment guide. Before making any moves, especially when it comes to such volatile investments, investors should thoroughly research and understand the risks.
