By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Beyond Meat stock (NASDAQ:BYND) surged 9% in Wednesday’s premarket trading on news that Yum! Brands-owned KFC will be selling the former’s plant-based fried chicken at its U.S. restaurants Monday onward.
Yum! (NYSE:YUM) operates around 4,000 KFC restaurants in the U.S. Its stock is yet to begin trading after closing 0.5% higher Tuesday. It was mostly flat in after-hours trade.
Prices for KFC’s Beyond fried chicken at KFC will start at $6.99 in most places but will vary by location, Reuters said.
In February 2021, Yum! and Beyond announced a global partnership to create plant-based menu items for KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut outlets over "the next several years."
Beyond Meat has had a tough time bringing its products to market, with delays marring several of them. Consumers have not adopted faux meat at the pace that some expected them to, in part due to high prices. That has been reflected in a stock price that has declined by more than half in the last year while benchmark indices have made record highs.
The news came on the same day as BofA reiterated its ‘underperform’ on the stock while cutting its price target. Analyst Peter Galbo lowered his target for the stock to $55 from $70, according to various reports. It had closed 5% lower at $61.62 Tuesday.