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Beyond Meat Rockets as Meme Traders Drive Three-Day Short Squeeze

ETF inclusion alongside a Walmart distribution update helped ignite retail buying in a heavily shorted, newly diluted stock.

Overview

  • Shares spiked as much as 73% Wednesday, lifting the three‑day gain to roughly 900%, before whipsawing to a flat close and falling more than 20% after hours.
  • Roundhill added Beyond Meat to its actively managed Meme Stock ETF, where the position reached roughly a 10% weight after a purchase of about 970,000 shares.
  • The company said its burgers and chicken pieces will be easier to find in more than 2,000 Walmart stores, and it launched a direct‑to‑consumer site.
  • Short interest was reported near 82% of free float by Ortex (about 63% by FactSet), with trading exploding to 1.2 billion shares Monday and more than 2 billion changing hands Wednesday.
  • The squeeze follows a debt swap that reduced roughly $800 million of obligations by issuing up to 326 million new shares, while sales remain weak and losses continue.