Wood's Strategic Maneuver: SpaceX Ousts Tesla from ARK Portfolio on Historic IPO Day
On the long-awaited day of SpaceX's stock market debut, Cathie Wood made a decisive move, restructuring her flagship ARK fund. My analysis of transactions on June 12 shows a clear signal: Wood is betting on Elon Musk's space ambitions at the expense of his automotive empire.
The fund acquired 3.29 million shares of SpaceX at an offering price of $135, spending approximately $444 million. By the close of the trading session, this stake was valued at $529.7 million — a 19% increase in a single day. On the same day, ARK simultaneously reduced its stake in Tesla, as well as in Advanced Micro Devices, Rocket Lab, Roku, and Baidu. This is not a coincidence, but a carefully planned capital rotation.
Why Tesla is losing ground
For a long time, Tesla shares were the anchor of Wood's portfolio, and she publicly defended the company during its toughest times. However, the situation has now changed dramatically. Chinese competitors — BYD and Nio — have nearly caught up with Tesla in terms of sales volumes and technology. Musk's business margins are declining amid price wars, and his political activity is alienating some liberal-leaning electric vehicle buyers.
SpaceX, on the other hand, is showing the opposite trend. Its only profitable division — Starlink satellite internet — is growing at explosive rates. Wood first invested in SpaceX at the end of 2023, and now the company has become the largest position in ARK's venture portfolio, valued at approximately $1 billion. With the public listing, the fund can increase its investments on the open market, which it has done.
ARK's performance context
Since the beginning of the year, the ARK Innovation ETF has grown by only 1.61%, while the S&P 500 has gained about 9%. Over the past 12 months, investors have withdrawn approximately $294 million net from the fund. According to Morningstar estimates, from 2014 to 2024, ARK has "destroyed" about $7 billion of its investors' funds. In this situation, the bet on SpaceX looks like a desperate attempt to reverse the trend.
In the IPO sector, Cathie Wood follows a single strategy: enter promising companies as early as possible. This is how ARK bought Coinbase shares shortly after its listing in 2021 and recently bet on CoreWeave. SpaceX has now become the largest investment.
My professional opinion: The purchase of SpaceX for $529.7 million is a significant move even by ARK's standards. The company reported a cumulative loss of $41.3 billion as of March 31, and 30% of the offering has been allocated to retail investors — three to six times higher than the usual level. Whether SpaceX will turn a profit and allow for stable earnings, or become another costly mistake for ARK, only time will tell. But one thing is clear: Wood has made her boldest bet yet.