Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Ramps Up Rocket Lab and Scribe Therapeutics Buying

TLDR

• ARK Invest bought $25.13 million of Rocket Lab shares on September 22, spread across three ETFs.
• Rocket Lab traded near $70, about 53% below its 52-week high of $151.
• ARK also kept buying Scribe Therapeutics, adding 39,149 shares worth over $1 million on Thursday.
• ARK sold shares of Alphabet, AMD, and Palantir while shifting money into Rocket Lab and other names.
• Rocket Lab’s backlog stands at $2.36 billion, and the company is working on an $8 billion deal to acquire Iridium.

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Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has been buying more shares of Rocket Lab and Scribe Therapeutics in recent trading sessions. The fund manager’s moves show a pattern of adding to beaten-down stocks while trimming positions in larger tech names.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc., RKLB

On September 22, ARK bought 359,612 shares of Rocket Lab. The total purchase was worth $25.13 million.

The buying was spread across three separate ARK funds. ARK Innovation purchased 277,573 shares. ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics added 59,746 shares. ARK Space Exploration bought 22,293 shares.

Rocket Lab Shares Have Fallen Sharply This Year

Rocket Lab closed at $70.31 on September 23. That price is roughly 53% below the stock’s high of $151.

Several factors have pressured the stock. The company pushed back the timeline for its Neutron rocket’s first flight. It also gave weaker than expected guidance on gross margins.

Rocket Lab is also working on an $8 billion deal to acquire Iridium, the satellite communications company. That deal brings added financing and dilution risk for shareholders.

To help fund the purchase, Rocket Lab secured a $3.6 billion bridge facility. It also completed an equity raise worth close to $2 billion.

This was not a single-day purchase for ARK. The fund bought 705,102 shares of Rocket Lab worth $44.4 million across two sessions in early September.

In July, ARK bought 62,497 shares of Rocket Lab. During that same month, it sold 184,670 shares of Iridium, the company Rocket Lab is trying to acquire.

Rocket Lab’s second quarter sales rose 62% to a record $234 million. The company’s backlog reached $2.36 billion. Its Electron rocket completed its 96th launch this month.

ARK Trimmed Other Tech Holdings

ARK has been selling shares of some larger technology companies to fund its other purchases. On September 22, the fund sold $5.83 million worth of Alphabet stock.

ARK has also trimmed its positions in AMD and Palantir in recent weeks. The fund has been shifting capital toward companies it views as more beaten down.

Separately, ARK has kept buying Scribe Therapeutics, a gene-editing company. On Thursday, September 24, the fund purchased 39,149 shares worth $1,038,622 through its ARKG fund.

That followed larger purchases earlier in the week. On Wednesday, ARK bought 143,257 shares of Scribe Therapeutics worth more than $4 million. On Tuesday, it purchased 88,323 shares worth close to $2.5 million.

ARK also bought shares of Beam Therapeutics on Wednesday. The fund purchased 65,553 shares worth approximately $1.7 million.

At the same time, ARK sold close to $7 million worth of Tempus AI stock on Wednesday. That sale marked a shift away from the artificial intelligence health company.

In her latest investor letter, Wood wrote that the current technology period is “likely to dwarf the Industrial Revolution.” She said ARK expects growth in artificial intelligence, robotics, energy storage, and genomics.

Wood’s most recent trades reflect continued interest in gene editing and space technology stocks, even as she reduces exposure to some larger technology holdings.