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Appetite for Beyond Meat’s plant-based burgers is shaky. But traders sure seem to developed a taste for its stock.

Shares in the company have soared about 1,000% over four days – a stunning rally for a company that had seen its share price all but wiped out since it debuted on the stock exchange six years ago.

The business has been struggling with sluggish sales – and has not posted a quarterly profit in more than five years – as shoppers turn away from its meat alternatives.

The surge has reignited debate whether the activity, propelled in part by online enthusiasm among everyday investors, is a sign of an overly frothy stock market.

Momentum started to build last week, when a Reddit user helped fuel a wave of purchases, drawing comparisons to other rallies of so-called meme stocks such as GameStop and AMC.

The gains continued after Roundhill Investments on Monday added the company to the bucket of companies owned by its meme stock ETF, or exchange-traded fund. The move appeared to spark a so-called short squeeze: as the stock price surged, the many investors betting against the company were forced to buy shares to cover their losses.

The company also announced a distribution deal with Walmart on Tuesday, further boosting its shares.

“This company was essentially being thought of as going out of business not that long ago,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.

“Getting a positive catalyst like the Walmart deal, which could be transformational with the rebound of demand and getting products in the hands of consumers – that is absolutely the trigger,” he added, referring to the stock surge since last Friday.

But Mr Hackett cautioned that the Walmart deal to expand distribution “doesn’t necessarily fix all the issues”.

“You’re really trading on emotions and technicals, versus fundamentals,” Mr Hackett said.

The company remains on shaky ground. Its share price, at just over $4 on Wednesday afternoon trading in New York, remains well below its all-time high of more than $230 in 2019.

The Beyond Meat meme stock surge comes against a backdrop of jitters about an overvalued stock market.

At the forefront are concerns about a possible bubble emerging in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Those worries have intensified as analysts struggle to see how the vast sums of money the biggest players are throwing at one another all fit together.

JP Morgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon echoed the concerns this month. He told the BBC he was “far more worried than others” about a serious market correction, which he said could come in the next six months to two years.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has also noted possible market manipulation tied to meme stocks, warning of the risks to everyday investors.

Some have responded with calls for tighter rules around short selling and social media-fuelled trading. But there is little sign such proposals are gaining traction.

Toulouse, France, 22 October 2025 – Airbus’ 2025 Cargo Global Market Forecast (GMF) shows the worldwide fleet of dedicated freighter aircraft rising to 3,420 in the next 20 years, equivalent to a 45% increase. This will be made up of 815 existing freighters and 2,605 additional ones. Of these additional 2,605 freighters, 1,530 will be replacements and 1,075 will be for growth. The additional 2,605 will be split between 1,120 small aircraft, 855 mid-size widebodies, and 630 large widebodies. Overall of the 2,605 additional freighters, 1,670 will be conversions from passenger aircraft and 935 will be new-build freighters.

World Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and trade remain the main drivers of air cargo. With long term trade forecasted at 2.7% CAGR, Airbus forecasts that air cargo will develop at a rate of 3.3% annually over the next 20 years, effectively almost doubling cargo volumes over the next two decades. Airbus forecasts significant air cargo growth as it has proved essential – not just to support economies, but also to connect remote communities, transport essential and health-critical goods, and enable local business development in emerging countries. 

After rapid cargo fleet growth during the pandemic, fuelled by an increase of passenger aircraft conversions into freighters and minimum retirement of previous generation freighters, Airbus forecasts that going forward, a large proportion of these older freighters will leave the fleet and be replaced by newer, more fuel efficient freighters such as the A350F or A320/A321 and A330 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) conversions.

Airbus also forecasts trade lanes, and therefore air cargo flows diversification, as more countries in the Asia-Pacific region become industrial centres. Likewise, GDP and demographic forecasts indicate that new countries such as Brazil, Indonesia or Vietnam will emerge as major consumer economies in the coming decades. This will initiate a gradual shift in air cargo geography and the global air freight map.

Of the total need for 2,605 freighter deliveries over the next 20 years, Asia-Pacific and North America will account for nearly two-thirds of demand, requiring 850 and 920 aircraft, respectively. 

Find more info on the latest Airbus Global Market Forecast and the Airbus family of freighters. 

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