Cathie Wood Is Buying Robinhood As Stock Bounces From Record Low

Cathie Wood is back at buying the battered shares of online broker Robinhood that rebounded from record lows hit just four months ago.

Abhishek Vishnoi

31 Oct 2022, 01:44 PM IST

Catherine Wood, chief executive officer of ARK Investment Management LLC, speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Florida, U.S., on Thursday, April 7, 2022. The Bitcoin 2022 four-day conference is touted by organizers as "the biggest Bitcoin event in the world."

(Bloomberg) -- Cathie Wood is back at buying the battered shares of online broker Robinhood Markets Inc. that rebounded from record lows hit just four months ago.

Funds backed by Wood’s firm Ark Investment Management LLC slightly bought over 185,000 shares of the broker platform in transactions on Monday and Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That marks the firm’s first buying of the US company since May 5.

While shares of Robinhood have risen about 65% from their record low in June this year, they are still down more than 80% from all-time high hit in 2021. The purchases have been carried out by Ark Next Generation Internet ETF and Ark Fintech Innovation ETF. The buying comes at a time when Robinhood is carrying out a sweeping overhaul to rein in expenses as it adjusts to a sharp downturn in trading activity.

The brokerage, which dismissed more than 1,000 employees and shut two offices earlier this year, will close the additional outposts without further job cuts, the Menlo Park, California-based company said in a filing on Sept. 30.

While Wood has started buying the dip in Robinhood and many other stocks this year, her flagship Ark Innovation ETF is yet to recoup this year’s loss. The ETF is down 59% for this year as aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve spurs fear of an economic downturn, battering growth stocks along the way.

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