What happened
Shares of Forum Merger II Corporation (FMCI), the special-purpose acquisition vehicle working to bring plant-based foods-maker Tattooed Chef public through a reverse merger IPO, are having a good day Wednesday, rising 6.7% through 11:25 a.m. EDT.
So what
There doesn't appear to be any specific news driving the stock price higher today. Newswires are devoid of any press releases from Forum or from Tattooed Chef. No analysts are touting the merger today, either.
What there is, however, is a new article out on Barron's today, which suggests that packaged food sales in general could get a boost from the trend toward more homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic as time-pressed parents seek options for quickly feeding their youngsters while juggling their own work-from-home schedules.
Barron's cites an Evercore ISI report noting that packaged food sales "accelerated in the past two weeks" at the same time that "some students have already started their fall semesters" and says Piper Jaffray is seeing "retail sales for meal-oriented food companies ... growing at a double-digit pace" -- with a notable uptick in sales since the school year started getting underway.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Both analysts seem at least cautiously optimistic that this early trend of growing consumer packaged goods sales could have legs. Whether it benefits primarily traditional food companies such as Kraft and Kellogg or extends to benefit meat-alternative companies such as Tattooed Chef (and, by extension, Forum Merger II) remains to be seen.
