Beyond Meat is one of the hottest stocks this quarter, rising by more than 100% in less than two months.
BTIG is ready to get even more bullish on the alternative-meat company: It firm initiated a buy rating this week with an $173 price target, implying 25% upside.
Analyst Peter Saleh, the firm's managing director of restaurants research, is pegging Beyond's success to one key demographic.
"It's really resonating with a young female consumer in the urban environment," Saleh told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Thursday. "That's really what's been driving a lot of the sales especially at the restaurants recently, so you know I think that continues and I think you see it become more ubiquitous."
Saleh expects young females along the coasts to adopt the trend, which should then fan out to the middle of the country. Customer loyalty is also contributing to sales growth, he added.
"What we really like about this story is you're seeing the repeat rates of about 46% at least in the grocery store, which tells us that there's really strong demand for this product, and I think you're going to see more of it coming to menus at restaurants near you," said Saleh.
Beyond's partnerships with nationwide chains is already fueling gains, he said. Starbucks and Dunkin' already carry the product in the U.S., and McDonald's is testing it in Canadian stores.
"They're at about 34,000 locations in the U.S. in terms of restaurants. Now, that's only about 5% of the U.S. restaurant doors that they can get into, so I think there's a lot more opportunity not only on the sausage or beef side but also on the poultry side. I think they're working aggressively to expand that as well," said Saleh.
Beyond more than doubled its total sales in its first quarter ended March. It is expected to post full-year sales growth of 53%.
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Source: cnbc.com
