The latest frenzy in Beyond Meat is offering a fresh reminder for investors chasing the latest viral stock — Riding the meme wave is fun, until it isn’t. The food company known for its plant-based burgers and sausages experienced monstrous gains of 128% Monday and 146% Tuesday. On Wednesday, the stock erased a triple-digit intraday gain to close down 1% with shares traded more notional value than Apple and Meta combined, according to Goldman Sachs. The seemingly minor loss on Wednesday nonetheless triggered a wave of selling Thursday, when shares tumbled about 20% in morning trading before bouncing back. BYND 5D mountain Beyond Meat over past 5 days The violent swings underscored how quickly euphoria can turn to panic in these momentum-fueled trades. JPMorgan said there are signs that retail enthusiasm may be waning, leaving meme traders vulnerable to sudden pullbacks. The Wall Street firm said retail investors bought about $4.2 billion in cash equities this week, well below the year-to-date average of $6.4 billion. They also turned into net sellers of single stocks, offloading about $60 million after buying $1.5 billion the previous week. ETF inflows slowed to $4.2 billion from $5 billion. “With the market showing early signs of vulnerability, there are also emerging signals that retail investor sentiment could be softening,” JPMorgan’s strategists said in a note Thursday. Risk below the surface Beyond Meat has almost single-handedly carried the meme story this week. The Roundhill Meme Stock ETF (MEME) , which carries 20 meme stocks, is still down 8% this week despite the heightened trading activity. Only two out of the 20 holdings — Beyond Meat and rare earth name United States Antimony — are in the green for the week, according to FactSet. Meme names Bloom Energy , D-Wave Quantum , Oklo and Critical Metals have all lost at least 10% this week. MEME 1M mountain Roundhill Meme ETF, 1 month Meanwhile, the Goldman Sachs Meme Index saw sharp declines Wednesday is teetering near key support levels, according to BTIG. “It was all a meme…. Shows the power of one name …, and the risk below the surface,” Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG, said in a note to clients. “We see further downside to this cohort of stocks.”
The Beyond Meat fever highlights the risk of trying to ride the meme trade wave