Its flagship ETF, Ark Innovation, has fallen 43% over the past year but has rallied 21% so far this year.
Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, sold one of her favorite stocks on Thursday, after steadily buying it for more than five months.
Ark funds dumped 139,642 shares of electric vehicle titan tesla (TSLA) – Get a free report, valued at $25.4 million as of Thursday’s close. Wood is one of Tesla’s biggest evangelists and has called his previous sales of stock profit-taking.
It remains the largest turnout by far in its flagship. Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) – Get a free report.
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Wood forecast in January that Tesla could go as high as $1,700 over the next five years. It recently traded for $190 and is up 54% year to date. But it’s still down 44% in the last 12 months.
Ark funds purchased Block (square) – Get a free reportfor the second day in a row, buying 338,072 shares valued at $20.9 million as of Thursday’s close.
Block shares have plunged 22% since Tuesday as short sellers Hindenburg Research published a harsh criticism of the financial services company. It has lost 55% in the last year.
Block is the eighth largest holding in the Ark Innovation ETF.
Ark Trades Coinbase, Teladoc
Also on Thursday, the Ark funds snapped up 268,928 shares of world coinbase (CURRENCY) – Get a free reportthe largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, valued at $17.8 million at that day’s close.
Shares of the company have fallen 63% in the past 12 months amid turmoil in the cryptocurrency market. But they have recovered 92% this year, helped by the recovery of Bitcoin. Coinbase is the fourth largest stake in Ark Innovation.
For the second day in a row, Ark funds were depleted Teladoc Health (TODOC) – Get a free report, the health care provider by phone/video. They bought 230,057 shares, valued at $5.6 million at Thursday’s close.
The company gained wide notoriety early in the pandemic, when people couldn’t get to their doctor’s office. But the trend waned over the past year, as people returned to their doctors’ offices.
Teladoc shares fell 62% during that period. Still, they have reasserted 6% year-to-date in line with other tech stocks. Teladoc is the ninth largest holding company for Ark Innovation.
Wood’s lagging returns
Meanwhile, Wood’s performance hasn’t exactly set the investment world alight over the past year, as his young tech stocks have tumbled. Ark Innovation is down 43% over that period and 76% since its February 2021 peak.
Nonetheless, the fund has rallied 21% year to date as tech stocks have generally rallied.
Mama Cathie, as Wood is known to her followers, defends her strategy by noting that she has an investment horizon of five years. But the five-year annualized return for Ark Innovation with assets of $7.3 billion was negative 0.18% through March 23, compared with positive 10.75% for the S&P 500.
The fund’s return is also nowhere near Wood’s target of 15% annualized returns over five-year periods.
She may be losing her popularity. Ark Innovation suffered a net investment outflow of $174 million over the past five days. But it has enjoyed a net inflow of $97 million over the past year, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.
