What happened
Shares of Beyond Meat (BYND -1.48%) climbed nearly 5% on Tuesday, as investors grew more optimistic about the meat alternative company's growth prospects.
So what
Beyond Meat's stock has been on fire since the plant-based food provider reported earnings on May 5. Investors cheered the company's 141% surge in revenue and unexpected profitability, which came even as many restaurants have been forced to close during the coronavirus crisis.
Beyond Meat was able to offset the impact of COVID-19 on its restaurant-based sales by rapidly expanding its grocery business. And with many restaurants gearing up to reopen as states begin to ease stay-at-home restrictions, Beyond Meat's restaurant revenue could soon receive a boost.
The Beyond Breakfast Sausage. Image source: Beyond Meat.
Now what
Another factor likely contributing to Beyond Meat's stock price ascent is the havoc the pandemic is wreaking on the meat industry. The damage -- which includes forced processing plant closures because of COVID-19 outbreaks -- is so disconcerting that Tyson Foods (TSN 1.85%) Chairman John Tyson recently took out full-page ads in several major newspapers warning Americans, "The food supply chain is breaking."
Beyond Meat's plant-based alternatives could help to lessen the pressure on the traditional meat industry during the COVID-19 crisis and thereafter. In turn, investors appear to be pricing the possibility of heightened growth into Beyond Meat's stock price, leading to sharp gains in recent days.
