Cathie Wood is continuing her streak of betting on beaten-down stocks. The founder of Ark Investment Management recently purchased 132,213 shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). In perfect Wood fashion, this comes after a difficult month for the company. TSLA stock has shed more than 33% of its value over the past six months, despite enacting a successful stock split. While it is trending upward today, it is still down 8% for the month. Yesterday, shares slumped even more after the electric vehicle (EV) leader’s quarterly deliveries fell short of Wall Street expectations. But Wood clearly sees Tesla’s recent losing streak as an opportunity to buy a growth stock on the dip.
Let’s take a closer look at her logic and what it may mean for investors.
What’s Happening With TSLA Stock
Since news broke of Wood’s purchase, TSLA stock has been rising all day. Despite some volatility, it is up more than 4% for the day as of this writing. According to data from Bloomberg, this investment represents Wood’s first TSLA stock purchase since June 2022. Her flagship ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKK) purchased 108,380 shares while the tech-focused ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (BATS:ARKQ) added 23,833. Tesla remains the top holding for Wood’s flagship fund, with a value of more than $738 million.
Wood began September 2022 by selling TSLA stock. Just a few weeks after, though, she made it clear that she remains highly bullish on it. While speaking to CNBC’s Squawk Box she stated:
We have used Tesla to trade around but it’s our top holding still, and our confidence couldn’t be higher as we see the movement towards electric vehicles accelerates. We are pretty excited about the next five years.
Her holdings may see significant growth before five years have passed, though. InvestorPlace Senior Investment Analyst Luke Lango recently made the case for why he believes some of Wood’s beaten-down tech holdings will “rebound enormously” in 2023. While Lango noted that 2022 has been an extremely difficult year for the type of high-growth tech stocks that Wood favors, he remains steadfast in his prediction that they could double in the coming year. He sees the macroeconomic headwinds that pushed Wood’s stocks down in 2022 shifting in her favor in 2023. As he states:
Inflation was the bane of Cathie Wood stocks in 2021. But inflation rates will dramatically cool in 2022. With the Fed fully on board to slow the economy, housing and rental costs finally falling, and oil prices remaining weak, inflation will keep cooling at an accelerated pace. Accelerating inflation killed Cathie Wood stocks in 2021. Decelerating inflation will boost them in 2023.
What Comes Next
Wood clearly sees the same type of economic landscape emerging from the dust of 2022. Her doubling down on TSLA stock suggests she is on a dip buying spree, as do her other recent investments. Wood’s three biggest purchases of the past week are Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB), UiPath (NYSE:PATH) and Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV), all of which have been rising since but remain in the red for the month.
Clearly Wood sees growth ahead for all three names and likewise for TSLA stock. While the EV leader has taken a blow following its delivery report, it recently turned plenty of heads at AI Day 2022. If the financial landscape does shift as Lango predicts, 2023 could indeed be a breakout year for TSLA stock and Wood’s other beaten-down holdings.
On the date of publication, Samuel O’Brient did not have (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.
