- Beyond Meat shares fell as much as 8% Wednesday after competitors Impossible Foods and Kellogg's Morningstar Farms scored wins.
- That pushed Beyond's share price below $100 for the first time since June.
- Investors are also likely skittish ahead of the company's third quarter earnings release and lockup period expiration next week.
- Watch Beyond Meat trade live on Markets Insider.
Beyond Meat is having a bit of a rough week after competitors Impossible Foods and Kellogg's Incogmeato scored wins ahead of the company's third-quarter earnings.
Shares of the plant-based meat alternatives company fell as much as 8% Wednesday, pushing the share price below $100 for the first time since June.
Beyond Meat's stock is now trading roughly 300% above its initial public offering price of $25, having pared returns that approached 800% in July.
One of the competitors to post positive news was Kellogg. The company announced Tuesday that Pizza Hut was testing a new plant-based pizza topping from its Morningstar Farms brand called "Incogmeato." The pizza chain will be serving the topping starting Wednesday in only one location in Arizona for a limited time
In addition, Impossible Foods, another major competitor of Beyond Meat, is eyeing expansion into Europe. On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that the company filed an application in the European Union to market soy leghemoglobin, a key ingredient in its burgers.
Impossible Foods had to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration for the ingredient before it could sell its burgers in grocery stores in the US. Beyond Meat stock sank as much as 6% when the FDA gave Impossible Foods the green light in August.
It's also possible that investors are skittish ahead of Beyond Meat's upcoming earnings report following a disappointing set of results last quarter, which saw Beyond Meat lose more money than analysts expected.
The day following the earnings report may also be stoking investor worry. It's the day that the lockup period for a chunk of 48 million shares will expire, meaning they will be available to trade on the public market.
The shares represent 80% of Beyond Meat's total shares outstanding, which could lead to a selloff. One group that stands to gain is short-sellers, who have a $672 million wager against the company, according to recent data from financial-analytics provider S3 Partners.
