Despite the sea of red that is currently surrounding the markets today, there is one stock that is weathering the storm surrounding the trade war quite well: Beyond Meat (BYND).
It’s trading up 5.25% as of 12:53 pm EDT Monday at $69.68.
Beyond Meat was created by vegan Ethan Brown in 2009, and raised nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to grow its line of plant-based meats, with shares rocketing in their public debut.
The company said in a regulatory filing a couple of weeks ago, that it planned to offer 9.5 million shares priced at $23 to $25 each, adjusting the original plan to offer 8.75 million shares priced at $19 to $21 each. In the end, it sold 9.63 million shares, with underwriters holding the option to sell another 1.44 million shares in case of over-allotment. The stock began trading May 2 on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “BYND.”
As the name implies, the company has a largely ethical focus and mission.
“As a young adult, I enjoyed a career in clean energy but continued to wrestle with a question born of these early days: do we need animals to produce meat?” asks Brown, who is chief executive as well as founder of Beyond Meat, in a letter included in the prospectus.
Beyond Meat is not the only company interested in furthering vegan and vegetarian interests. Impossible Foods, which makes a meatless plant-based burger and is backed by celebrities like Serena Williams and Katy Perry, said on Monday it has raised $300 million in the latest round of funding ahead of a possible initial public offering.
The latest round for Impossible Foods brings the Silicon Valley-based startup’s total raised to more than $750 million. Nevertheless, regardless of seeing encouraging signs from investors, Impossible Foods is not in a hurry to go public, Chief Financial Officer David Lee told Reuters.
“We believe in self-reliance. Being ready to go public is a priority for the company because we need to be operating at the highest level of rigor,” Lee said.
“But we are not in a rush, nor are we announcing an IPO filing.”
The rise in conscious eating is already spurring interests in creating ETFs like a proposed Vegan Climate Exchange Traded Fund.