The prominent investor Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, on July 13 bought and sold some familiar technology names.
All the valuations below are as of Wednesday’s close.
Ark funds purchased 1,041,831 shares of Unity Software (U), a videogame-software developer, valued at $34.2 million.
On July 13 Unity said it had agreed to buy IronSource for $4.4 billion in stock.
Unity is a videogame-software-development company. It said yesterday it would buy IronSource (IS) , an Israeli developer of a platform to enable mobile content creators to scale applications. Unity stock was down 17% at the close yesterday. It's trading at one-sixth of its 52-week high $210, set in November.
Ark Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG) snagged 110,668 shares of Butterfly Network (BFLY), a medical-imaging-equipment maker, valued at $409,472. The stock has slumped 46% year to date.
Ark Sales: 3D Printers, Cell Biology
On the selling side, Ark funds sold off 3,474,626 shares of Stratasys (SSYS), a 3D printer maker, valued at $61.5 million. The stock has slipped 28% so far this year.
Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) unloaded 239,129 shares of Berkeley Lights (BLI), a digital cell biology company, valued at $1.2 million. The stock has plummeted 74% year to date.
Ark funds sold 218,048 shares of Compugen (CGEN), an Israeli biotechnology company, valued at $433,916. The stock has lost 55% so far this year.
Ark Innovation shed 163,896 shares of Beam Therapeutics (BEAM), a biotech company, valued at $9.1 million. The stock has fallen 29% year to date.
Trailing the S&P 500
As Ark funds have tumbled in recent months, she has defended her strategy by noting that she has a five-year horizon.
Up to May 9, the fund’s five-year return beat that of the S&P 500. But the five-year annualized return of Ark Innovation totaled 10.18% through July 13, lagging the S&P 500’s 11.17% return, according to Morningstar.
Ark Innovation has fallen 54% so far this year, as Wood’s tech companies have hit the skids. And it’s down 73% from its February 2021 peak. Raging inflation and soaring interest rates have helped put the kibosh on tech stocks.
Still and all, Ark Innovation enjoyed a net inflow of $1.77 billion in the six months through July 12, according to VettaFi, an ETF research firm.
“I think the inflows are happening because our clients have been diversifying away from broad-based benchmarks like the Nasdaq 100,” Wood said. “We are dedicated completely to disruptive innovation. Innovation solves problems.”
Meanwhile, she recently reiterated her view that the economy is suffering from deflation, not inflation. And Wood said the economy has already entered recession. The Federal Reserve is making a mistake in continuing to raise interest rates, she said in a July 12 Ark webinar.
