Beyond Meat Options Hot Amid Breakout

BYND gained 12.5% yesterday after Impossible Foods and McDonald's stopped supply talks

The shares of Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) are up 1% to trade at $84.76 this morning, after McDonald's (MCD) announced it was expanding the test of the former's plant-based burger in Canada. More specifically, the golden arches will now offer BYND's vegan burger in 52 outlets across southwest Ontario, up from 28 in the initial trial.

Beyond Meat stock gained 12.5% yesterday, after rival Impossible Burger and McDonald's canceled supply talks. Today, BYND opened at its highest point since Oct. 31, further distancing itself from recent consolidation below the $80 level. The shares still have a long way to go before filling a late-October post-earnings bear gap, though.

On the sentiment front, there's still plenty of pessimism priced into the stock. Of the 12 brokerages covering BYND, eight rate it a "hold" or "strong sell." And short interest increased by 21% in the most recent reporting period to a record high 8.5 million shares. This represents a whopping one-third of the stock's total available float.

This two-day rally has piqued interest in BYND options. Already today, 79,000 calls have changed hands, 12 times the average intraday amount and almost six times the number of puts traded. The weekly 1/10 90-strike call is most popular so far, with new positions being purchased. This indicates options traders are banking on more gains from BYND in the next two days.