Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Investment Management, bought shares of stalwart semiconductor designer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Wednesday for the first time since February.
All the valuations below are as of Wednesday’s close.
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Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) purchased 26,219 shares of AMD, valued at $2.1 million. The stock has jumped 35% year to date amid bullishness for its data-center business. But shares have slipped 4% over the past year amid weakness in the chip sector.
AMD is the 20th biggest holding in Ark Next Generation. As an established company, it’s not a typical Wood holding. But she seems to buy some stocks like AMD to provide her funds with stability.
Wood Sells DraftKings, Exact Sciences
Also Wednesday, Wood dumped online sports gambling platform DraftKings (DKNG), for the third day in a row. Ark Next Generation sold 129,781 shares valued at $2.84 million. That followed combined sales of $13.8 million by Ark Monday and Tuesday.
DraftKings stock has skyrocketed 87% year to date and 47% in the past 12 months amid strength in the sports-gambling market. It’s the eighth biggest holding in Ark Next Generation.
Finally Wednesday, Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) jettisoned 80,578 shares of Exact Sciences (EXAS), valued at $5.1 million.
The company is a medical diagnostics provider famous for its Cologuard at-home colon cancer test. The stock has ascended 32% thus far in 2023, buoyed by strong earnings, and 16% over the last 12 months.
Ark has sold more than 4 million shares of Exact Sciences since Jan. 1. But it’s still the sixth 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 32% during that period and 78% from its February 2021 peak.
Nonetheless, the fund has bounced back 14% 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 $6.7 billion-asset Ark Innovation was negative 1.17% through May 3, compared with positive 11.18% 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 ouflow of $22 million during the five days through May 3, but enjoyed a $218 million inflow over the last year, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.
