Cathie Wood’s infatuation with Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE:DNA) stock continued this week. The ARK Invest fund manager purchased an additional 1.13 million shares of the gene editing company on Thursday, adding to her already sizable holdings of DNA stock.
Wood has had a particular fascination with biotech stocks lately. Earlier this month Wood purchased shares of Ginkgo, Invitae (NYSE:NVTA), and substantial amounts of Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC). At the time of writing, Teladoc is the reigning champion throughout Wood’s various exchange-traded funds (ETF), currently the single largest holding throughout the firm, making up about 6% of her total fund weight. Wood owns roughly $1.2 billion of the company.
Woods’s buying streak has seemingly never ended this year. Even as her flagship ARKK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKK) suffers massive losses, currently down more than 50% this year, Wood can’t help but continue to invest in her disruptive innovation thesis.
Ginkgo in particular was, for a while, Wood’s undisputed favorite biotech option. From June 29 to July 26, Wood made 19 separate purchases of DNA. Unfortunately, Ginkgo’s stock price has largely diminished as Wood’s holding of the company increased. In fact, today, just hours after Wood’s purchase, DNA stock is down more than 12%.
What’s been going on with DNA stock lately?
DNA Stock Drops on Wood’s Purchase, New Infrastructure Acquisition
It seems Wood’s investment today was a bad omen for Ginkgo. The Boston-based biotech company announced this morning the purchase of “certain epidemiological data infrastructure assets” from Baktus, a Delaware public benefit company. The assets include datasets, modeling and analysis tools, and a software platform capable of tracking epidemics, their risks, and impacts.
Matt McKnight, General Manager for Biosecurity and Ginkgo, commented on the purchase:
Integrating state-of-the-art epidemiological modeling and predictive capabilities with our end-to-end biosecurity offerings will help us continue making the data we gather on pathogen spread and evolution that much more meaningful and actionable for public health leaders and communities.
As part of the deal, Nita Madha, the former Chief Executive of Metabiota, the Baktus subsidiary responsible for the database in question, will join Ginkgo. “Ginkgo’s biosecurity initiative is an ideal home for our data, analytics, and expertise, and we are very excited to join the Ginkgo team,” Madha said.
It’s unclear exactly when or how the new assets will enhance Ginkgo’s value. Today, however, investors remain cautious over Ginkgo, reflected in its share price drop. It’s been a cold day for the markets as a whole, however, Ginkgo may well just be another casualty. Currently, the S&P 500 is in the red by nearly 1.5% heading into market close.
On the date of publication, Shrey Dua did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
