Beyond Meat Options Hot as Stock Soars
Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) stock is red-hot today, after Tim Hortons -- the Canadian coffee chain owned by Restaurant Brands (QSR) -- said it is testing Beyond Breakfast Sausage sandwiches in select markets. At last check, BYND was up 11.5% at $88.84, earlier tagging a record high of $93 per share.
Options traders are showing unusual interest in the stock amid this surge, too, with a record 53,000 calls and 32,000 puts on the tape so far. Buy-to-open activity has been detected at the May 90 and 100 calls, while bulls also appear to be targeting the further-dated June 100 calls. If this is the case, speculators expect BYND shares to extend this upside momentum over the next six weeks.
Bullish betting has been popular since Beyond Meat options began trading one week ago. While the May 60 put is home to peak open interest of 2,812 contracts, it looks like notable sell-to-open activity has occurred here. Next up are the May 80 and June 70 calls, where it appears new positions were purchased.
Since opening on the Nasdaq at $46 on May 2 -- well above its initial public offering (IPO) price of $25 -- BYND stock has nearly doubled. Underscoring the security's red-hot start, today will mark the Beyond Meat's third-best day since going public, with the equity jumping 14.7% yesterday and soaring 12% on May 6.
