StockBeat - Beyond Meat Takes Fight to Rival, but JPMorgan Warns Shares Overcooked

Investing.com - Beyond Meat took the fight to rival Impossible Foods with the launch of new, meatier plant-based patties, but that did little to drown out JPMorgan's (NYSE:JPM) downgrade on concerns the company's stock may be too well done.

The plant-based food company said its new version of its flagship vegan burgers would hit U.S. shelves this week, as it seeks to keep up the pace with privately held Impossible Foods, which also rolled out an improved version of its own burger patty in January.

But the outlook on Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) has been soured by a downgrade from JPMorgan to neutral from overweight, sending its share price down 21.7%.

The bank said that it believes that the vegan upstart's "extraordinary revenue and profit potential" has finally been priced in and that its shares will remain sensitive to any disappointing news.

Beyond Meat had surged 645.7% between its $25-a-share IPO in May to its Monday high of $186.43. That prompted the bank to warn that the stock's current valuation is difficult to justify.

In a further blow to the plant-based food company, competition continues to heat up.

Nestle said Tuesday it could expand its plant-based burger sales partnership with fast food chain McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) beyond Germany or look to sign up other fast food chains.

"McDonald’s is an exciting and big customer, but it is not the only option and we have quite good capacity to cope with a (possible) extension beyond Germany," Marco Settembri, the chief executive of Nestle’s Europe, Middle East and North Africa business said.

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