Ark Invest Management chief executive officer (CEO) Cathie Wood is a lauded yet controversial figure.
The exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that the company manages have struck gold several times by investing early in innovative, disruptive ventures — with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) being the prime example.
Wood’s flagship product — the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) was the best-performing ETF in the world in 2020. However, since then, it has failed to repeat its previous success. At press time on February 6, ARKK was trading at a price of $63.81 — having rallied by 11.75% since the start of 2025.
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Since December, Wood has demonstrated a clear pattern of selling well-performing tech stocks and redirecting the funds to other assets. With interest rates elevated and the odds of multiple rate cuts diminishing, tech stocks, with valuations at record-high levels, are risky assets to hold. In all likelihood, the fund is locking in its gains to mobilize them in a less risky manner.
One of the best-performing stocks in recent memory, Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR), was the latest item on Cathie Wood’s chopping block — at the same time, she shored up her position in two prospective biotech stocks.
Cathie Wood continues consistent trimming of Palantir stake
Palantir released its Q4 earnings report on February 3. The data analytics business posted a double beat — both earnings per share (EPS) and revenue came in above analyst expectations. In addition, management provided bullish guidance.
Palantir stock surged by 24% to reach an all time high (ATH) of $106 on February 4. By press time on February 6, prices had pulled back — and PLTR shares were changing hands for $100.72.
Despite these successes, the company’s high valuation is a point of contention. In late November of 2024, Cathie Wood sold roughly $1.7 million worth of PLTR stock — and followed it up with a bigger $17 million sale in early January.
Most recently, ARKK sold 71,069 Palantir shares on February 4. While we’re not privy to the exact prices that the transactions were made at, we can make an educated guess. Since PLTR stock traded between $101.68 and $106, using the midpoint of $103.84 brings the value of the sale up to $7,379,804.
ARKK increases positions in biotech stocks
In contrast with the PLTR sale, Wood’s fund increased its stake in 3 biotech companies — Illumina Inc (NASDAQ: ILMN), 10X Genomics Inc (NASDAQ: TXG), and Twist Bioscience Corp (NASDAQ TWST).
The acquisitions are all the more significant because biotech is usually the domain of another of Ark’s funds — the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG). All in all, the acquisitions cost a total of $9,145,824 — $6.7 million of that went to ILMN stock, $1.46 million was used to purchase TXG shares, and slightly more than $960,000 was used to buy Twist Bioscience stock.
Of the three, only TWST stock is in the green both compared to this time last year and on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. However, analysts predict only an average upside for Twist Bioscience shares — whereas they’re quite bullish on TXG and ILMN.
Illumina Inc. will hold its quarterly earnings call today, on February 6, after market close. 10X Genomics will report earnings on February 12. Investors looking for a better overview of Wood’s latest biotech bets should keep a close eye on the results, as well as price action in the immediate aftermath of the releases.
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