Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, on Thursday traded shares of electric-vehicle titan Tesla (TSLA) for the first time in almost a month.
While Ark funds sold Tesla stock March 24, this time around they bought 256,023 shares valued at $41.7 million as of Thursday’s close. That’s much bigger than Wood’s usual trades, which generally top out around $20 million.
She was likely trying to take advantage of the stock’s 10% drop Thursday after a weak earnings report.
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Wood is a major evangelist for Tesla, the biggest holding in her flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK). She has frequently called its declines buying opportunities and called her occasional sales of the stock profit-taking.
Tesla shares at last check rebounded 2% to $165.70. They have jumped 34% so far this year but have slumped 49% over the past 12 months. In an interview with CNBC Friday, Wood said the stock could hit $2,000 by 2027.
Wood Trades Shopify, DraftKings, Roku
Also Thursday, Ark Innovation unloaded 739,816 shares of e-commerce host Shopify (SHOP), valued at $35.5 million as of that day’s close. That was Wood’s first trade of the eighth biggest holding in Ark Innovation since February, when she bought the stock.
Shopify’s revenue surged 26% in the fourth quarter, as merchants continued to grow their online sales offerings. But the company’s net loss widened by 68%. Its stock has climbed 40% year to date but has slipped 7% over the past 12 months.
Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) dumped 286,817 shares of online sports gambling platform DraftKings (DKNG), valued at $6.1 million.
DraftKings stock has skyrocketed 52% in the past year and 92% year to date, amid strength in the sports-gambling market. It’s the eighth biggest holding in Ark Next Generation ETF.
Finally Ark funds snatched 61,827 shares of video-streaming platform Roku (ROKU) on Thursday, valued at $3.6 million as of that day’s close.
The stock has dropped 47% over the past year amid intense competition in the streaming industry, but has climbed 43% year to date. It’s the third biggest holding in Ark Innovation ETF.
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 29% during that period and 76% from its February 2021 peak.
Nonetheless, the fund has bounced back 21% 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 $7.3 billion-asset Ark Innovation was negative 0.51% through April 20, compared with positive 11.05% 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.
But Ark Innovation enjoyed a net investment inflow of $97 million during the five days through April 20, and an inflow of $596 million over the past year, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.
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