The prominent asset manager Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, on Wednesday bought into a drug-discovery-technology stock, again bulked up on a major cryptocurrency stock, and again sold shares of a major electric-vehicle maker.
She also continued her buying of 3D-printing stocks. (All valuations are as of Wednesday’s close.)
Ark funds purchased 496,322 shares of Twist Bioscience (TWST), valued at $24.9 million.
Twist Bio, South San Francisco, says on its investor-relations page that the core of its platform "is a proprietary technology that pioneers a new method of manufacturing synthetic DNA by 'writing' DNA on a silicon chip.
"We are leveraging our unique technology platform to manufacture a broad range of synthetic DNA-based products, including synthetic genes, tools for NGS sample preparation, and antibody libraries for drug discovery and development."
Ark Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG) snapped up 221,118 shares of SomaLogic (SLGC) , the Boulder, Colo., biotechnology company, valued at $1.8 million. SomaLogic produces protein-based tests that enable individuals and health-care providers to better prevent and assess diseases.
Ark Genomic Revolution snatched 150,051 shares of Burning Rock Biotech (BNR) , valued at $1.4 million.
Ark Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX) bought 35,979 shares of 3D Systems (DDD), valued at $613,802.
Ark funds bought 96,591 shares of Coinbase (COIN) , the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., valued at $18.9 million. In January, Ark said bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2030. It recently traded at $47,048.
Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) sold 2,978 shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA), valued at $3.3 million. Wood has said that her sales of Tesla stock are designed to take profits and that she still believes in the company. Tesla remains the biggest holding of Wood's flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK).
Meanwhile, in Ark’s March 21 newsletter, it noted that “as of March 2022, roughly one-third of the companies that went public through initial public offerings (IPOs) during the past four years are trading below their previous private valuations.”
As for the significance of that trend, “In our view, these data suggest that public market investors are rejecting the late-stage and IPO valuations set by venture capitalists and investment bankers.”
Earlier this year, when Wood’s publicly traded technology stocks were falling sharply, she noted the disparity between valuations for privately traded tech stocks and publicly traded ones. That created attractive opportunities to buy the publicly traded stocks, Wood said.
Now private valuations are sliding, too, says Ark analyst Maximilian Friedrich. “Data from private secondary markets … suggest that startup valuations are responding to the drawdown in public markets,” he wrote in a commentary.
Secondary marketplace Forge reported that prices for companies that traded on its platform fell about 10% both in the fourth quarter and in February.
In addition, indications of interest in selling privately held stocks totaled 60%, the highest level since first-quarter of 2020, when the Covid crisis broke out. It's also a stark reversal from the 60% for buyer indications of interest in 2021, Friedrich said.
