Shares of Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) rose 9% in the extended trading session on Tuesday after it was revealed that KFC restaurants will start selling its plant-based fried “chicken” across the United States for a limited period, starting on January 10.
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Beyond Meat is a producer of plant-based meat substitutes, while KFC is YUM! Brands’ (YUM) biggest brand.
The companies initially tested plant-based chicken at an Atlanta restaurant in August 2019, and the limited supply sold out in less than five hours. The following year, KFC tested the new item in Nashville, Charlotte, and Southern California.
According to Reuters, a global partnership deal was inked between Yum and Beyond Meat in February 2021 to create plant-based menu items for Yum’s KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.
Kevin Hochman, U.S. president of KFC, said, “This is really about where the customer is going; they want to eat more plant-based proteins. It’s January, so it’s a time of New Year’s resolutions and wanting to do something different in your diet.”
Notably, the companies expect their plant-based products to be a success as consumers reduce their meat consumption for health and environmental reasons.
Official Comments
Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown said in a news release, “We couldn’t be prouder to partner with KFC to offer a best-in-class product that not only delivers the delicious experience consumers expect from this iconic chain, but also provides the added benefits of plant-based meat. We are truly thrilled to make it available to consumers nationwide.”
Wall Street’s Take
Recently, Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery upgraded Beyond Meat to a Hold from a Sell and lifted the price target to $64 (3.86% upside potential) from $61.
The rest of the Street is bearish on the stock, with a Moderate Sell consensus rating based on 1 Buy, 7 Holds, and 6 Sells. The average Beyond Meat price target of $78.83 implies 27.93% upside potential to current levels. Shares have decreased 47.6% over the past year.
Website Traffic
TipRanks’ Website Traffic Tool, which uses data from SEMrush Holdings (NYSE: SEMR), the world’s biggest website usage monitoring service, offers insight into Beyond Meat’s performance this quarter.
According to the tool, the Beyond Meat website recorded a 44.58% decrease in global visits in November compared to the same period last year. Also, a quarter-to-date comparison showed a fall of 40.52% compared to Q4 2020, and the year-to-date website traffic decline stands at 23.13%.
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