Cathie Wood Watch: Ark Sells Some DraftKings Shares

Wood's flagship Ark Innovation ETF has slipped 42% over the last year, but has rebounded 24% so far in 2023.

Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, sold familiar names Wednesday.

Ark funds sold 293,143 shares of online sports gambling platform DraftKings  (DKNG) - Get Free Report, valued at $5.3 million as of Wednesday’s close. It was Wood's first sale of the stock since March 13.

DON’T MISS: Cathie Wood Says AI Puts This Ark Holding in 'Pole Position'DraftKings has dipped 6% in the past year. But it has jumped 58% year to date amid strength in the sports-gambling market. DraftKings is the 11th biggest holding in Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF  (ARKK) - Get Free Report.

Ark funds also dumped 148,713 shares of Exact Sciences  (EXAS) - Get Free Report, valued at $9.6 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 descended 8% over the last year.

Ark has shed more than 3 million of the company’s shares since the beginning of this year. But Exact Sciences is still the sixth biggest holding in Ark Innovation.

On the buying side, Ark funds snagged 147,257 shares of Coinbase Global  (COIN) - Get Free Report, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, valued at $9 million as of Wednesday’s close.

The company’s shares have tumbled 63% over the past 12 months amid turmoil in the cryptocurrency market. But they have rebounded 76% this year, helped by bitcoin’s recovery. Coinbase is 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 42% during that period and 76% from its February 2021 peak.

Nonetheless, the fund has bounced back 24% 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 only 0.47% through April 5, compared with 10.9% 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 enjoyed a net investment outflow of $86 million during the five days through April 5 and $700 million over the last year, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.