How to buy Beyond Meat (BYND) stock

• Ready to put some money into Beyond Meat?
• Get exposure to the growing meat alternative market.
• Learn what to look for when selecting an online broker.

Beyond Meat is a disrupter in the food market. The company’s CEO and founder, Ethan Brown, miraculously turns plant-based foods into tasty meals with a meaty flavor. While it’s hard to imagine that a plant-based patty could taste as good as an Angus burger, Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) has been a smashing success.

If you’re wondering how to buy Beyond Meat stock, this guide has everything you need to know about trading BYND.

Company overview

Founded in 2009, with headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, Beyond Meat burst onto the scene in 2012, releasing its "Chicken-Free Strips" at select locations in California.

Since then, the company has seen huge growth in its business and in 2020 and early 2021, its stock price outperformed other competitors in the plant-based meat industry.

Step 1: Pick a broker

The first step in trading BYND is to open an account with a stock broker. Brokers vary in their offerings, so it pays to shop around for the best deal. Here are the key features to look for.

Margin and cash accounts

A cash account only lets you trade the cash balance in your account. It takes 48 hours for trades to clear with your broker's clearinghouse. While the trades are clearing, you typically won’t be able to access your buying power.

With margin trading, the broker “loans” you money to keep trading while your transactions clear. As a result, you don’t have to sit on your hands waiting for the clearinghouse to reinstate your buying power.

A margin account lets you “leverage” up to three to six times your account balance on qualifying stocks. Therefore, you could have $1,000 in your trading account and use it to buy $6,000 of BYND stock at a leverage ratio of 6:1. Be warned though, if using margin to buy shares and your portfolio value falls, you may be asked to deposit additional funds known as “maintenance margin.”

Fractional share trading

BYND shares are expensive, and chances are you can only afford one or two shares with a minimum account deposit of $300.

Using most of your buying power (the funds in your account) on one trade is risky. What if the price moves against you? With fractional shares, you can take a position in 1/10th of a share, reducing your risk and allowing you to diversify into other stocks.

No-fee commissions

When Robinhood first offered commission-free trading, millennials gravitated toward the platform. Other brokers took notice and it wasn’t long before commission-free trades was commonly available.

If you’re trying to grow your small account, commissions can sap your profits. By eliminating this cost, you get to keep all your earnings, and your account can continue to grow.

Low fee schedules

Fee schedules vary between brokers. Always check for the costs of account fees, inactivity fees, transaction fees, and any other charges mentioned by the broker. Compare them with others to get the best deal.

Real-time market data

Your trading platform will come with a charting package. However, most of the charting packages offered with trading platforms are simplistic. If you want better charts, you’ll need to go with a provider like eSignal or TradingView. Another popular option is thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade.

Broker charts don’t include up-to-the minute market data. As a result, your quotes may lag up to 15 minutes behind. Real-time data gets you live prices on stocks and is an absolute necessity for day traders.

Step 2: Fund your account

After setting up your trading platform and charts, it’s time to fund your trading account. Most brokers will accept account deposits via bank wire transfers, credit or debit cards. It may take a few days for funds to clear into your account the first time you deposit, but typically it takes less than that. Make sure you take this time into account when planning your trading.

Step 3: Decide how much you want to invest

When you fund your trading account, it's critical that you do so with money you can afford to lose. Using your rent money or emergency savings to fund your account is a bad idea. The last thing you need is to take a catastrophic loss and fall into a precarious financial position.

Step 4: Choose between direct investment or ETFs

When your funds reflect in your account, you’re ready to start trading. You have a couple of options for getting involved. Purchasing shares gives you direct exposure to the price action in the stock.

However, exchange-traded funds like the Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK), Global X AgTech & Food Innovation ETF (KROP), and iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) include an allocation to BYND among others. This gives you exposure to the price action in BYND along with a number of other companies, which diversifies your risk.

Step 5: Set up your order

After deciding on an ETF or shares, it’s time to open your trading platform and make a trade. Beginners have four options for order types.

Market order

This order gets you into BYND at the next quoted price. However, there could be slippage on your order. Market orders won’t fill at an exact price. If your entry was $100, and you use a market order, you could get filled at any price above $100. Therefore, if you get filled at $110, you’ll have to absorb the additional cost.

Limit order

A limit order prevents the slippage involved with market orders. With this order type, you enter the price where you want to purchase BYND stock. The broker will only fill your order if it reaches that exact price. However, the downside of using limit orders is that you might not get filled or experience a partial fill when prices are volatile.

Stop limit

With this order type, you set a price to sell your stock on the upside. For instance, the current price is $100, and you want to sell when it reaches $110. This locks in your profit but may leave money on the table if the stock price continues to rise.

Stop loss

This risk mitigation tool helps you limit losses in your account. For example, if you bought in at $100, you might want to set your risk, or allowable loss, at 10% of the trade. You’ll put your stop loss at $90, and if the price moves to this level, the broker sells your stock.

Step 6: Place the order

After settling on your order type, it's time to trade. On your trading platform, you’ll notice that there’s a form to enter the ticker, the number of shares you want to buy, and your order type.

After customizing your trade, hit the buy button and the broker will execute your order.

Step 7: Track performance

BYND is a large-cap stock with some impressive price movement, especially after its IPO. If you’re trading BYND, look for industry news, press releases, and company announcements. The stock price typically moves on these days and when earnings are reported. Other meat alternative stocks worth tracking include Ingredion and Tyson Foods.