Wash, rinse, repeat. That’s what Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, did Monday, repeating some recent trades in big names.
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Ark funds bought 37,725 shares of Coinbase Global (COIN), the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, valued at $2.4 million as of Monday’s close.
The company’s shares have tumbled 67% over the past 12 months amid turmoil in the cryptocurrency market. But they have rebounded 76% this year, helped by bitcoin’s recovery. Coinbase is the fourth biggest holding Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK).
Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) snatched 18,555 shares of Block (SQ), valued at $1.2 million as of Monday’s close.
Block stock has plummeted 17% since March 21, as short sellers Hindenburg Research published a blistering criticism of the financial services company. It has lost 53% over the last year.
Block is the sixth biggest holding in Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF, moving up one since Friday.
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Wood Buys Teladoc, Sells Exact Sciences
Also Monday, Ark funds snapped up 34,266 shares of Teladoc Health (TDOC), the phone/video healthcare provider, valued at $840,500 as of that day’s close.
The company gained great notoriety early in the covid pandemic, when people couldn’t go to their doctors’ office. But the trend faded over the past year, as people returned to their doctors’ offices.
Teladoc shares dropped 65% during that period. Still, they have firmed 3% so far this year in line with other tech stocks. Teladoc is the ninth largest holding in Ark Innovation.
On the selling side, Ark Innovation dumped 41,985 shares of Exact Sciences (EXAS), valued at $2.8 million as of Monday’s close. The company is a medical diagnostics provider famous for its Cologuard at-home colon cancer test.
Exact Sciences stock has ascended 34% thus far in 2023, buoyed by strong earnings but has eased 2% over the last year. Ark has shed more than 3 million of the company’s shares since the beginning of this year. But Exact Sciences is still the fifth biggest holding in Ark Innovation.
Wood’s Lagging Returns
Meanwhile, Wood’s performance hasn’t exactly lit the investment world on fire over the past year, as her young technology stocks have slumped. Ark Innovation has descended 44% during that period and 77% from its February 2021 peak.
Nonetheless, the fund has bounced back 19% so far this year, as tech stocks have rebounded in general.
Mama Cathie, as Wood is known to her fans, defends her strategy by noting that she has a five-year investment horizon. But the five-year annualized return of $7.2 billion-asset Ark Innovation was only 0.43% through March 27, compared with 10.7% for the S&P 500.
The fund’s performance also doesn’t come close to Wood’s goal for annualized returns of 15% over five-year periods.
She may be losing her popularity. Ark Innovation suffered a net investment outflow of $304 million during the past five days. But it enjoyed a net inflow of $156 million over the last year, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.
