ARK Invest Buys More DraftKings, Genius Sports as Stocks Stumble

Posted on: November 24, 2021, 11:23h. 

Last updated on: November 24, 2021, 01:24h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Shares of DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) and Genius Sports (NYSE:GENI) are on miserable runs. But at least one well-known investor is using the dips in those names to buy more of the downtrodden equities.

ARK DraftKings
Cathie Wood, seen in an interview above. Her ARK Investment Management bought more DraftKings. It also added shares of battered Genius Sports. (Image: NY Post)

Cathy Wood’s ARK Investment Management, which has been a devoted buyer of both sports wagering equities this year, added to positions in DraftKings and Genius Sports on Tuesday. The New York-based exchange traded funds (ETFs) issuer bought 313,699 shares of DraftKings yesterday, while adding 881,741 shares of Genius.

ARK’s buy in Genius came as the stock suffered through one of its worst intraday performances since it separated from a blank-check company in April. Yesterday, shares of the sports betting data provider plunged more than 25 percent after the company reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss.

Today, Genius stock is down another 2.6 percent, as at least four research firms lowered price targets on the shares. The shares are off 34.17 percent over the past week.

ARK Stands by DraftKings, Genius

ARK directed the entire Nov. 23 purchase of Genius stock to the ARK Next Generation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKW), while all of the newly bought DraftKings equity was allocated to the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKF).

The $5.51 billion ARKW now owns 5.07 million Genius shares, meaning the stock accounts for 1.08 percent of the fund’s portfolio, according to issuer data. That ETF also holds DraftKings and Skillz (NYSE:SKLZ), another beaten up gaming equity that came public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

ARK’s addition of DraftKings stock to ARKF — the fintech ETF — means that fund now owns 2.23 million shares of the online sportsbook operator, and the stock is now the number 14 holding in the fund, commanding a weight of 2.66 percent.

The ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKK), the firm’s flagship fund, owns 12.27 million shares of DraftKings and 16.33 million shares of Skillz.

Wood Not Deterred by Declines

As noted above, Genius stock is plunging. DraftKings isn’t anything to write about, either. That name shed more than a quarter of its value over the past month.

Still, Wood remains undaunted. She has a long history of patience with growth stocks – her timeline is often five years or more – and of buying dips in faltering names in which she has high conviction. That could be exactly what’s happening with DraftKings and Genius.

I get very unsettled when I see people selling at what I know are bargain-basement prices,” Wood said in an interview today with CNBC. “Our optimism and confidence have increased in here, not decreased.”

Those comments were broad and not specific to DraftKings or Genius Sports.