Why Beyond Meat stock is up about 600% in 3 days

Beyond Meat (BYND) is having another meme stock moment, despite the fundamentals of its business being anything one could call as sizzling as a plant-based burger right off the grill.Shares of the struggling faux meat maker have gained close to 600% in the past three trading sessions. Gains look poised to continue on Wednesday, with shares up 133% in pre-market trading.During the stretch, the company's ticker page has been among the most active on the Yahoo Finance platform (also see Yahoo Finance community insight chart below).There appears to be two catalysts behind the surge.On Tuesday, Beyond Meat said its "Beyond Burger 6-pack" and Beyond Chicken Pieces" will be available at 2,000 Walmart (WMT) stores across the country.And two, on Monday the stock was added to the Roundhill Meme Stock ETF (MEME). Beyond Meat is seeing increased interest from the Yahoo Finance community. The trading activity comes at a tumultuous time for the former IPO high-flier that was once valued at $14 billion after a 2019 IPO (today $1.4 billion).Last week the company announced a debt swap deal in a bid to slash some $800 million in debt. Beyond Meat will receive $202.5 million in debt due in 2030 in exchange for debt maturing in 2027. The company will issue bondholders up to 326 million shares, diluting existing shareholders.Second quarter sales crashed 19.6% from the prior year to $75 million, led by a plunge in volume. The company was again hit by a perfect storm: weak demand at retail locations and soft demand at fast food joints. Beyond Meat's operating loss tallied $34.9 million.The company opted to layoff 6% of its workforce. It had two rounds of layoffs in 2024 amid poor results."Stabilizing the portfolio and driving operating leverage are the key drivers to reaching positive EBITDA in 2H26. The company is shrinking to survive — cutting costs, revisiting strategy, and trying to rebuild distribution. Innovation is shifting toward protein, fiber, and clean forward labels/offerings. The balance sheet needs work. Progress will be judged quarter by quarter," said Jefferies analyst Kaumil Gajrawala.