Background: Beyond Meat is a LA plant-based meat producer founded back in 2009. In 2019, they became the first plant-based meat startup to go public. And this IPO was UGE. In fact, it was the biggest in the US since 2000.

What happened: Fast-forward 2 years, and the meat ain't as juicy. Beyond's shares have tanked around 70% and investors are now betting money that shares will fall even more.

What else: According to new data, about 37% of Beyond Meat's available shares are shorted. This means the company is now the most heavily shorted company on the Russell 1000 Index (aka the stock exchange representing the largest 1000 companies in the US).

So what's the key learning?

💡Short-selling is an investing tactic where investors bet that a company's share price is going to fall within a period of time.

💡It works like this:

1. The investor borrows shares (generally from a broker)
2. The investor sells those borrowed shares
3. If the share price drops like the investor expects it to, the investor buys the shares at a lower price
4. The investor gives those shares back to whoever they borrowed them from.

And voila, the investor earns the difference between the amount they sold the share for...and the amount they bought it for.  

💡Now, 37% of all Beyond Meat's shares have been 'borrowed' so they can be re-purchased at a lower price. And given the plant-based meat industry declined 10 months in a row last year...it may not be the worst bet.