Beyond Meat Gains On Double Upgrade From Bernstein

Beyond Meat shares rose nearly 8% Monday following a double upgrade to outperform from Bernstein’s Alexia Howard.

Howard set a $130 target for the stock, 22% higher from the stock’s Friday closing of $106.59.

The analyst called for buying the dip as the alternative meat company’s sales should rise again on wider reopening of the economy, also helped by its recent tie-ups with McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Yum! Brands Inc (NYSE:YUM) and PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP).

The company’s last quarter results reflected the growing competition for the company.

Beyond Meat’s shares have more than halved from their 52-week high of $220.8, falling back after the company reported losses that ballooned to $25.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a $500,000 loss in the same period in 2019.

The company last month opened its first manufacturing plant in China. Its inaugural plant in Europe is also expected to debut this year.