Beyond Meat Inc.

shares doubled in premarket trading Wednesday, boosting its four-day rally to almost 1,300 per cent, in an echo of the

meme-stock frenzies

that periodically roil the market.

Shares in the struggling maker of plant-based burgers and sausages surged 100 per cent to US$7.33 at 6:38 a.m. in New York. The stock, which closed at 52 U.S. cents on Thursday, is still down about 97 per cent from its record high in 2019.

The stock began rallying Friday, and the advance picked up steam Monday, when Business Insider reported on a trader named Demitri Semenikhin who’s been touting the stock on social media.

The momentum may have been powered by bearish traders covering their bets against Beyond Meat: About 64 per cent of the shares available for trading had been sold short as of the end of September. Roundhill Investments added Beyond Meat to its Roundhill Meme Stock ETF, the firm said in a post on X late Monday.

The rally took another leg higher on Tuesday when the company announced an increased availability of its products at

Walmart Inc.

’s stores. The products will be available at more than 2,000 stores, according to a statement.

About US$5.9 billion of shares changed hands Tuesday, equal to 4.2 times the company’s market value at the close.

Beyond Meat shares plunged early last week when the company said nearly all creditors had accepted a debt swap that will lead to a substantial dilution of shareholders.

Another well-known consumer stock that’s attracted meme traders in the past also is rallying this week: Doughnut shop owner Krispy Kreme Inc.’s shares are climbing 26 per cent in premarket trading.

—With assistance from Michael Msika.

Bloomberg.com