Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, traded many of her big-name stocks Monday, mostly buying them.
Ark funds bought 26,727 shares of electric vehicle titan Tesla (TSLA), valued at $4.7 million as of Monday’s close (all valuations below are as of Monday’s close too). Tesla is by far the biggest holding in Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK).
DON’T MISS: Cathie Wood’s Theory Behind Her Firm's Tesla Investment
For years, Wood has loudly sung the praise of Tesla amid her enthusiasm for the EV market. The stock could hit $1,700 in the next five years Wood said in January. It recently traded at $181 and has soared 48% year to date. To be sure, it has lost 32% over the last year.
Wood executed her first trade of financial services company Block (SQ) Monday since January. Ark funds purchased 92,165 shares of the stock, valued at $6.4 million.
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Block has slumped 28% over the past year amid the decline in financial services and technology stocks. But it has jumped 17% so far this year amid the recovery in technology stocks. The company is Ark Innovation’s sixth biggest holding.
Wood Traded Roku and Exact Sciences too
Ark funds snagged 97,641 shares of Roku (ROKU) Monday, valued at $5.8 million. The stock has slid 39% over the past year amid intense competition in the streaming industry, but has climbed 51% year to date. It’s the third biggest holding in Ark Innovation.
On the selling side, Ark funds dumped 256,679 shares of Exact Sciences (EXAS) Monday, valued at $16.3 million. The company is a medical diagnostics provider famous for its Cologuard at-home colon cancer test.
Exact Sciences stock has climbed 30% thus far in 2023 and 3% over the last year, buoyed by strong earnings. Ark has shed more than 3 million shares since the beginning of this year. But the company is still the fourth 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 28% during that period and 76% from its February 2021 peak.
Still, 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 $6.8 billion-asset Ark Innovation was negative 2.37% through March 13, compared with positive 8.77% 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.
Ark Innovation suffered a net investment outflow of $135 million during the past five days, according to ETF research firm VettaFi. But it enjoyed a $115 million inflow over the last year.
