Cathie Wood and ARK Investment Management are making some new purchases. Not only is Wood buying bank stocks by way of Block (NASDAQ:SQ), but she’s also expanding her stake in the electric vehicle market mainstay Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). Block and Tesla investors alike are pretty happy with the attention, as both are up nicely in Thursday afternoon’s trading. Reports note that ARK Invest accumulated Block shares over a several-day period.
The ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKK) picked up 104,500 shares, while the Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKW) landed over 17,100 shares. In addition, the Fintech Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKF) bought just under 1,000 shares. That represents a combined total of around $9.4 million based on the Wednesday closing price. This comes after a significant downgrade from Mizuho Securities’ analyst Dan Dolev, who noted that Cash App has serious problems with getting new users in and keeping revenue flows on track. However, recent changes in Block’s investment operations, as well as a newfound discipline, should help Block improve.
Furthermore, 2,560 shares of Tesla were acquired in the shopping spree, reports noted. But Block was the clear favorite, and Wood picked up the shares following the recent string of bank catastrophes. Wood has previously berated banks for a range of issues, noting that “…asset and liability duration mismatches” are present throughout the system. She also noted that even as several banks plunged and the entire U.S. banking system was under threat, “…Bitcoin (BTC-USD), Ethereum (ETH-USD), and other crypto networks didn’t skip a beat.”
Both Block and Tesla are up on the day, but they’re very different propositions. Block stock is considered a Strong Buy, and its average price target of $99.86 gives it 31.36% upside potential. Meanwhile, Tesla stock is a Moderate Buy and offers a 15.14% upside potential by virtue of its $212.89 average price target.
