Beyond Meat shares butchered

Shares of Beyond Meat getting butchered Tuesday. The stock plunged nearly 20% in early trading as the so-called lock-up period for early investors ended. That frees employee, insiders and other early backers up to sell their shares and lock-in profit.

And talk about juicy profit. The vegan burger maker was one of the year's hottest IPOs. Its shares rose five-fold to nearly $240 in July but have since fallen by more than half.

Lifting the trading restriction on early investors means a huge supply of stock could potentially flood the market and further pressure the shares. About three-fourths of the shares came unlocked Tuesday.

Also weighing on the stock: several analysts cut their price targets after Beyond Meat released its results. The company produced its first quarterly profit and raised its sales forecast for the full year. But it also said it would offer more discounts as competition heats up.