Beyond Meat's blistering stock-market start may be over

Thomson Reuters

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• Beyond Meat was up more than 5% early Wednesday, but is now trading lower.
• Shares gained as much as 235% since pricing on May 1, and closed higher in each of the first four trading days.
• Watch Beyond Meat trade live.

Investors insatiable demand for Beyond Meat may finally be waning.

Shares of the plant-based burger maker were up about 6% early Wednesday, extending their gain to 235% since pricing at $25 on May 1, but are now trading lower by almost 2% at $77.88 apiece.

A lower close would mark the first down day for the stock since it went public on May 2.

"The recent large IPO pop for Beyond Meat highlights the market's appetite for innovation in the same nontech industry," Nomura Instinet analyst Joseph Mezrich wrote in a note sent out to clients on Tuesday.

Wednesday's sell-off comes as investors brace for more volatility in shares as options began trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Beyond Meat's red-hot stock-market debut comes despite the company not yet turning a profit. It has generated losses in each year since its 2009 founding, losing $29.9 million last year on net revenue of $87.9 million.