Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, bucked a major market move in her stock trading Wednesday.
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Ark funds purchased 67,664 shares of Block (SQ), valued at $4.9 million as of Wednesday’s close, buying while others were selling.
Block stock slumped after the short-selling investment firm Hindenburg Research published a blistering criticism of the financial services company. Block has plummeted 20% since Wednesday and 56% over the past year.
The company is the fifth biggest holding in Wood’s-flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK).
Also on Wednesday, Ark funds snagged 193,816 shares of Teladoc Health (TDOC), the phone/video health-care provider, valued at $4.7 million as of that day’s close.
The company became prominent early in the pandemic, when people couldn’t go their doctors’ offices. But the trend faded over the past year, as people returned to in-person health care. And 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 funds dumped 3,140 shares of Exact Sciences (EXAS), valued at $201,000 as of Wednesday’s close. The company is a medical diagnostics provider famous for its Cologuard at-home colon cancer test.
Exact Sciences stock has ascended 32% thus far in 2023, buoyed by strong earnings but has eased 4% over the past year. Ark has shed more than 3 million of the company’s shares this year. But Exact Sciences is still the sixth 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 42% 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 $7.4 billion-asset Ark Innovation was negative 0.27% through March 22, compared with positive 10.21% 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 $173 million during the past five days and $249 million over the last year, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.
