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Once a high-flying plant-based food company, Beyond Meat (BYND) has since become a meme stock, driven by volatile momentum spikes and heavy short covering. That may help explain the reason that institutional investors have stayed away from the stock in recent years.

However, recent filings suggest there may be an opportunity in the stock. According to a 13F filing, Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management initiated a new position in Beyond Meat during the first quarter of 2026. In fact, the fund picked up 343,000 shares of Beyond Meat at an average buy price of $0.76. Given Beyond Meat’s declining revenues, net losses, poor guidance, and heavy dilution, most investors would stay away from the stock.

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There are two potential reasons. One, Coatue has been heavily invested in non-public plant-based competitors, such as Impossible Foods. Investing in Beyond Meat may be a way for the fund to gain further exposure to a potential trillion-dollar plant-based food market. Two, the firm may view Beyond Meat as a potential turnaround play.

After all, Beyond Meat did see a gross profit of $2 million, which was an improvement from a gross loss of $6.9 million year-over-year (YOY). And its net loss of $28.5 million in the quarter was a major improvement from a year-earlier $61.1 million loss. In addition, according to CEO Ethan Brown, the company has plans for new product categories, including Beyond Immerse, a protein-carbonated drink, functional foods, and expanded distribution partnerships.

Even more interesting, Coatue isn’t the only fund investing in Beyond Meat. In the first quarter, AQR Capital Management added about 7.8 million shares. Their trading model may have detected unusual activity in the stock and bought it, expecting short-term momentum to continue. Further, GMT Capital bought roughly two million shares, which could suggest a bet on a turnaround, or simply a play on meme-stock momentum.

The company posted a first-quarter EPS loss of $0.10 a share on revenue of $58.21 million, which declined 15.3% YOY. Still, both numbers were in line. Its U.S. retail channel net revenues fell 15.3% to $26.6 million from $31.4 million YOY, thanks to a 14.7% drop in volume of products sold. Its U.S. foodservice channel net revenues fell 29.7% to $6.6 million from $9.4 million YOY, thanks to a 31.8% drop in the volume of goods sold. And its international foodservice channel net revenue fell nearly 26% YOY to $11.3 million.

Also, for the second quarter, Beyond Meat provided net revenue guidance of between $60 million and $65 million, which is below estimates of $67.94 million.

Of the eight analysts covering BYND stock, three have a “Hold” rating, and five have a “Strong Sell” rating, resulting in a consensus rating of a “Moderate Sell.” The mean target price of $0.66 implies a potential downside of 14% from current levels. Meanwhile, the high price target of $1 implies as much as 30.14% possible growth from here.

While Beyond Meat still faces serious challenges — including declining sales, weak guidance, and ongoing skepticism— recent institutional buying, as we saw from Coatue, is an encouraging sign. That doesn’t necessarily mean a full recovery is around the corner. The company still needs to prove it can regain consumer confidence in a rough market.

On the date of publication, Ian Cooper did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com