Cathie Wood Engages in Discount Shopping: Three Stocks She Recently Purchased

Momentum seems to be shifting in Cathie Wood's favor. The co-founder, CEO, and CIO of Ark Invest is currently underperforming the market for the third time and has experienced some turbulent years following her stellar performance in 2020. However, her aggressive growth ETFs are currently showing signs of recovery.

Ark Invest made additional investments in The Trade Desk (-0.97%), Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB 2.07%), and Guardant Health (GH 1.74%) on Thursday. Let's delve into some of Wood's recent investments.

1. The Trade Desk

At times, even an outstanding quarter isn't enough to maintain momentum. Shares of The Trade Desk slipped 6% on Friday the previous week, despite reporting a "beat and raise" performance. The stock dropped despite eight analysts raising their price targets on The Trade Desk, the leader in programmatic advertising, following the third-quarter results.

Let's dissect the decline. Firstly, the stock had been experiencing a substantial surge recently. The Trade Desk has risen by 80% this year, with most of the gains occurring in the last three months. Despite the share price decline on Friday, it still closed higher than it did two days prior. The Trade Desk has been on a strong upward trend for the fourth consecutive month, leading to elevated expectations of impressive financial results.

The Trade Desk's third-quarter earnings were still noteworthy. Revenue increased by 27% to $628 million, surpassing analysts' expectations of almost 26% growth. This was The Trade Desk's second strongest revenue growth in the last two years. The company also reported improved earnings, recording a 24% increase to $0.41 per share, significantly more than analysts had forecast. The Trade Desk has consistently surpassed earnings projections in each quarter this year.

Management predicts that the adtech leader will see at least 25% revenue growth in the highly profitable fourth quarter. While this represents a deceleration in growth, The Trade Desk has a history of being cautious with its outlook to analysts.

The Trade Desk continues to dominate the future of advertising, continually expanding its market share and leading in areas such as connected TV and other popular advertising platforms. Its customer retention rate remains impressive, consistently above 95%, a trend that has been sustained for over a decade. The Trade Desk helps marketers effectively reach a wide audience, making it an attractive investment option.

2. Pacific Biosciences of California

Wood is bullish on the future of medical innovations, with Pacific Biosciences of California (PacBio) being one of her investments. PacBio is a leader in long-read gene sequencing, offering cutting-edge technologies to help scientists and clinical researchers improve existing biology and healthcare solutions.

PacBio's quarterly results were not as impressive as The Trade Desk's, but they did not experience a decline like PacBio. Revenue grew by a minimal 2% to $40 million, slightly missing analyst estimates. However, the company's loss was in line with expectations.

Unlike The Trade Desk, shares of PacBio have been on a downtrend this year. However, the shares have more than doubled since their summer lows. Analysts anticipate revenue growth picking up next year and significant improvements in profitability. PacBio is still a few years away from achieving profitability, but it is making progress.

3. Guardant Health

Guardant Health, a developer of oncological tests, is another investment that Wood added to her portfolio. Following its third-quarter results, Guardant Health was the best-performing stock of the three, with shares soaring 13% on Thursday.

Revenue increased by 34% to $191.5 million for the September quarter, far surpassing analysts' expectations of $170 million. Guardant Health also reported a smaller loss than anticipated, reduced its full-year guidance, and boasts a robust cash balance and promising pipeline of clinical or biopharmaceutical tests. Guardant Health has a bright future ahead for its investors.

Despite Cathie Wood's current underperformance in the market, her aggressive growth ETFs, such as those invested in The Trade Desk, Pacific Biosciences of California, and Guardant Health, are showing signs of recovery, indicating that she continues to have faith in the potential of these finance-related ventures and the power of investing in innovative industries like advertising and healthcare.
The momentum in finance and investment is not only visible in Cathie Wood's Ark Invest portfolio but also in specific stocks like The Trade Desk, which saw a significant rise in revenue by 27% in the third quarter, despite some temporary dips due to elevated expectations, and companies like Pacific Biosciences of California, which despite facing challenges, are anticipated to experience revenue growth and significant improvements in profitability in the coming years, making them attractive investment opportunities.