Cathie Wood Increases SpaceX Bet as Shares Hit Post-IPO Low

According to the firm’s July 17 trading report, four actively managed ARK exchange-traded funds purchased a combined 147,623 shares as the stock closed at $123.99. The ARK Innovation ETF led the buying spree with 95,129 shares, while the Autonomous Technology & Robotics, Space Exploration & Innovation, and Next Generation Internet funds split the remainder. These latest acquisitions bring ARK’s total investment in SpaceX to well over $475 million since the company began trading at $135 per share.

The buying activity comes amid heightened scrutiny of the company’s operations following the cancellation of Starship Flight 13. A pre-flight test failure involving two Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster forced a mission scrub just minutes before liftoff, a delay that Elon Musk plans to address by replacing the hardware. While cognitive scientist Gary Marcus suggested the stock weakness reflects growing skepticism toward Musk’s management, others like Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt dismissed the dip as an overreaction to a minor operational setback.

Simultaneously, ARK moved to trim its portfolio elsewhere, offloading 26,002 shares of Robinhood Markets. The firm did not specify a reason for the sale, which occurred as Robinhood’s stock price fell 5.72% to close at $99.96.