Beyond Meat Stock Drops, but the Meme Rally Has Already Hit Short Bets

Beyond Meat stock dropped on Thursday, extending losses after its weeklong rally stumbled in the previous session.

Yet, while the plant-based meat producer’s stock is stumbling, the meme-fueled frenzy has already left short-sellers hurting.

Following a four-day rally that took the stock up more than 1,300%, Beyond Meat wiped out a huge gain on Wednesday to end about 1% lower. The reversal continued on Thursday, with the stock down as much as 23%.

Short interest in the stock—a necessary component for most meme-stock runs—was high heading into Beyond Meat’s big rally. On Thursday, data from S3 Partners showed just how much investors betting against the stock lost during the craze.

S3 said short-sellers have recorded more than $120 million in paper losses since last Friday’s close. These investors have essentially gone from being up $80 million this year to being down $45 million betting against Beyond Meat stock.

“2025 has turned into a non-profitable year for BYND shorts since it hit its year-to-date low on 10/16,” S3 managing partner Ihor Dusaniwsky told Business Insider. “Shorts are now down -$45.1 million in year-to-date mark-to-market losses, -48% for the year. Since its year-to-date low on 10/16 BYND shorts are down -$119.1 million in mark-to-market losses, down -243%.”

Dusaniwsky added that large, unexpected losses have forced Beyond Meat short sellers to purchase 5.7 million shares to cover their positions since last week. Short interest in Beyond Meat is currently $129.6 million with 36.19 million shares shorted and short interest accounting for 49% of its float.

When Dubai-based retail trader Dimitri Semenikhin, known online as Capybara Stocks, first shared on Reddit that he had purchased a sizable percentage of Beyond Meat shares outstanding, it helped kick off the stock’s wider rally.

Beyond Meat’s huge gains in the last week have drawn comparisons to the iconic GameStop short squeeze of 2021.