Beyond Meat sailed in its IPO today, but left one investor behind. I tried. At 8:15 am, dressed in a carbon neutral outfit, ready to receive my broker’s call and yell “buy,” I was poised to catch my first unicorn. But the call never came. The paltry 500 shares parsed out to Merrill Lynch’s NY office were a jump ball for 200 advisers and their clients. My adviser wasn’t in the play. My first IPO and I was stuck on the bench for BYND’s NASDAQ debut.
A Whopper of an IPO
The IPO price was $25, it opened at $46 and exploded 163% to just over $70, before ending the day at $65.75. It was an epic listing day performance. It felt like that dream where you know the winning trifecta for the Kentucky Derby, but can’t get to the betting window.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/beyond-meat-ipo-51556043270
Why BYND?
Bench players are afforded the time and perspective to analyze beyond the next play. My mind wandered to this conundrum. With an opportunity to select a shiny new stock symbol, a branding opportunity for sure, how did they land on BYND? Obviously an abbreviation for beyond, their choice may signal a future diversification “beyond meat” to dairy, fish and poultry.
Stock symbol branding is a thing. Consider how these companies approached it. Southwest Airlines hugged its LUV tag, Ferrari accelerated with RACE, Harley Davidson vroomed with HOG, Molson Coors tapped TAP, Sotheby’s gaveled BID, and my favorite, Asian Tiger Fund, roared with GRR. To draft off the excitement an IPO naturally engenders, a crowd-sourced, stock symbol branding competition generates more hype and good will.
Creating new stock symbols on either exchange takes imagination. While not as onerous as creating a cogent Gmail address these days, there are over 3,300 companies listed on the NASDAQ and 2,800 on the NYSE. One to four letters in length.
Ideas for Impossible Foods and Airbnb
Plant-based meat competitor Impossible Foods and hotel disruptor Airbnb may be going public later in the year, but to date, have not announced a date or a stock symbol. Impossible Foods, might consider VEG or REAL. (Unfortunately, LEAF and GOOD are already spoken for) Airbnb, this one is a layup – ZZZ. In return, all I ask for is 500 shares at the IPO price.