Renowned investor Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, bought shares of a medical imaging equipment producer Wednesday, along with some familiar names.
All valuations below are as of Wednesday’s close.
Ark Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG) purchased 227,499 shares of Butterfly Networks (BFLY), the medical-imaging-equipment maker, valued at $768,947. The stock has plunged 49% so far this year.
Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) snagged 240,963 shares of Coinbase Global (COIN), the country’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange. The stock has cratered 79% year to date.
Clearly Wood still believes in cryptocurrencies, even after their recent slump.
“We think bitcoin has just begun,” Wood said in an April interview on CNBC. Institutions are just starting to catch up to individuals in using bitcoin, she said. And Wood stuck to her January prediction that bitcoin will crack $1 million by 2030.
Block and Shopify Purchases
Getting back to Wednesday’s activity, Ark Innovation snatched 129,448 shares of financial services firm Block (SQ), valued at $8.4 million. The stock has dropped 58% so far this year.
Ark Innovation snapped up 223,067 shares of e-commerce company Shopify (SHOP), valued at $7.4 million. The stock has tanked 75% year to date.
Ark Innovation bought 268,695 shares of TuSimple (TSP), an autonomous-truck-driving technology company, valued at $2.1 million. The stock has plummeted 77% so far this year.
Finally, Ark Innovation purchased 153,981 shares of Unity Software (U), a videogame-software company, valued at $6.6 million. The stock has lost 70% year to date.
Trailing the S&P 500
Meanwhile, as Ark funds have tumbled in recent months, Wood has defended herself by noting that she has a five-year investment horizon.
And the five-year track record of Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation could indeed give investors comfort up to May 9. The fund’s five-year return beat that of the S&P 500 until then. But the five-year annualized return of Ark Innovation totaled 10.81% through July 6, behind the S&P 500’s 11.77% return, according to Morningstar.
Ark Innovation has sunk 52% so far this year, as Wood’s tech companies have hit the skids. And it’s down 71% from its February 2021 peak. Raging inflation and soaring interest rates have helped put the kibosh on tech stocks.
Apparently many of Wood’s investors aren’t too worried about that underperformance. Ark Innovation enjoyed a net inflow of $1.4 billion in the six months through July 5, according to VettaFi, an ETF research firm. To be sure, the fund suffered an outflow of $34.08 million in the last month.
“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.”
