Cathie Wood Watch: Here's What Ark Is Buying and Selling

Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, traded four of her top-name stocks Friday.

All valuations below are as of Friday’s close.

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Ark funds bought 451, 382 shares of Robinhood Markets  (HOOD) - Get Free Report, the online securities brokerage. That stash was valued at $5.1 million.

The stock has dropped 12% since Aug. 1, after the company reported earnings that disappointed investors. So perhaps Wood saw the decline as a buying opportunity. Robinhood shares are still up 40% year to date.

Ark funds purchased 327,291 shares of Block  (SQ) - Get Free Report, the financial services company co-founded by Jack Dorsey. That kitty was valued at $20.8 million.

The stock has plunged 21% since July 31, also on investor disappointment with earnings. It has gained 1% so far this year, compared with a 33% advance for the Nasdaq Composite index, amid intense competition in financial services.

Block is the fifth biggest holding in Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF  (ARKK) - Get Free Report.

Ark Lightens Some Positions

On the selling side, Ark funds unloaded 394,160 shares of online sports betting platform DraftKings  (DKNG) - Get Free Report. The block was valued at $12.5 million.

The stock has nearly tripled so far this year amid investor enthusiasm for the sports gambling business. The stock is Ark Innovation’s seventh largest holding.

Finally on Friday, Ark funds dumped 126,361 shares of video-streaming company Roku  (ROKU) - Get Free Report. That chunk was valued at $10.9 million.

The stock has more than doubled so far this year. Roku posted strong second-quarter earnings. But Morningstar analyst Neil Macker puts fair value for the company’s shares at $70, below Monday’s quote of $88.25.

Roku is the second biggest holding in Ark Innovation, behind electric-vehicle titan Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report.

Wood’s Lagging Returns

Meanwhile, Wood’s performance hasn’t exactly lit the investment world on fire over the past couple years, as her young technology stocks have largely slumped. Ark Innovation has descended 72% from its February 2021 peak.

Nonetheless, the fund has bounced back 44% so far this year, as tech stocks have rebounded, particularly smaller ones.

Mama Cathie, as Wood is known to her fans, defends Ark’s strategy by noting that she has a five-year investment horizon. But the five-year annualized return of $8.1 billion-asset Ark Innovation was only 1.24% through Aug. 4, compared with 11.46% for the S&P 500, according to Morningstar.

The fund’s performance also doesn’t come close to Wood’s goal for annualized returns of 15% over five-year periods.

Ark Innovation has seen a net investment outflow of $227 million in the past five days. And it has seen a $941 million outflow over the past year, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.

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