Cathie Wood, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ark Invest Management, remains a divisive figure in the world of investing.
While her bold bets on innovative, disruptive tech companies like Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), appear at times to be prescient, her high-risk, high-reward strategy also has a habit of accruing significant losses when growth stocks collapse.
In addition, Wood is notorious for setting incredibly high price targets and making ambitious predictions — most of which have yet to materialize.
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Wood and Ark Invest primarily operate through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). While the investment management firm’s products span a wide variety of sectors and themes, Ark’s flagship product, the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), is the most widely recognized.
In 2020, it was the best-performing ETF in the world. However, it has struggled to replicate that success since then. By the time of publication, ARKK was trading at $61.58, having marked an 8.47% gain since the start of the year.
Since the beginning of the year, ARKK has dumped large quantities of Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR) stock twice. In the first week of January, Wood’s ETF unloaded 221,950 PLTR shares worth $17 million at the time. Then, in the first week of February, Ark followed up with a sale that encompassed 71,069 Palantir shares, which were then worth $7.37 million.
Wood reducing her exposure to Palantir doesn’t seem like it will end any time soon — as she made an additional sale on February 11.
Wood cuts Palantir stock stake as data analytics business soars
At press time, PLTR stock was changing hands at $113.53. Shares of the data analytics company have rallied by 50.11% since the start of 2025. The primary driver — coinciding with a jump from $83 to $110, is the company’s standout Q4 2024 earnings report, released on February 3.
On February 11, Wood sold 172,382 units of PLTR stock for roughly $19.4 million. With this latest sale concluded, ARKK has liquidated roughly $43.77 million worth of Palantir stock since the beginning of the year.
Despite the impressive gains, the company’s extremely high valuation remains a point of contention.
As bullish as analysts are on Palantir in the long term, there is a significant chance of a steep, if temporary, correction. In addition, company insiders have sold more than $40 million worth of PLTR stock since the beginning of the year — clearly signaling that key personnel consider current prices ripe for profit-taking.
Ark Innovation turns to conservative, defensive picks
In tandem with the Palantir stock sale, Wood’s flagship fund made six purchases. Her largest acquisitions were Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM) and Deere & Co (NYSE: DE).
The former is a satellite stock that has struggled in 2024 — but has managed to earn the confidence of an eminent Wall Street firm. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) analyst Simon Flannery gave the stock a ‘Buy’ rating on February 10, with a $38 price target that implies a 36% upside from IRDM’s current price of $27.81.
In a note shared with investors, Flannery cited the company’s robust share repurchase program and healthy commercial IoT revenue growth as the key drivers behind his rating.
On the other hand, the latter is perhaps the most recognizable manufacturer of tractors in the world. DE stock marked a modest 5.68% gain in 2024 — although the price of Deere shares has rallied by 13% since the start of the year.
ARKK spent roughly $15.85 million to acquire the IRDM shares and an additional $13.84 million to purchase Deere stock. The rest of Wood’s purchases, which focused on biotech and cloud computing, were worth a total of $9.75 million — so this latest sale of Palantir stock is obviously part of a wider rebalancing toward a more conservative position.
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