According to reports, plant-based protein producer Beyond Meat (BYND.US) saw its stock price soar over 1300% in just four days, reaching a 14-month high during trading on Wednesday, which triggered intense battles among short sellers. Data from S3 Partners LLC indicates that this surge has resulted in short sellers experiencing paper losses exceeding $120 million from last week's closing low, bringing total losses for the year to over $45 million. Prior to the retail-driven rebound, shorts were sitting on nearly $80 million in paper profits for 2025. The rapid jump from historical lows has caused some short sellers to urgently close positions to cut losses, with the stock closing down 1.1% on Wednesday after a dramatic intraday jump of 112%, followed by a post-market decline of over 10% to $3.20. Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners, noted that current shorts are exhibiting a dual approach: those being squeezed are accelerating their short covering, while others believe a pullback is inevitable due to the rapid price increase, opting to add to their short positions. Although the proportion of short interest relative to float has decreased in recent trading sessions, it has still increased by over 5 million shares in the past 30 days, indicating growing divergence among market participants. This round of price increases began last Friday and continued through Monday. On the news front, trader Demitri Semenikhin heavily promoted the stock on social media, akin to how Keith Gill (online moniker Roaring Kitty) spurred the price surge of GameStop (GME.US) during the pandemic. Additionally, on Wednesday, Walmart announced it would expand the availability of Beyond Meat products to over 2,000 stores, further elevating the stock price. Dusaniwsky compared the current situation to the GameStop incident: some shorts are being forced out, while others are doubling down due to the rapid and excessive price increases. This meme stock frenzy, driven by retail attention, underscores the extreme volatility characteristics of struggling company stocks amid a surge of speculative funds, and the divergent actions within the short seller camp further highlight the increasing market division concerning high-valuation targets.