Ark Invest On DocuSign Says Confident Pandemic-Induced Transition To e-Agreements 'Not A Temporary Shift'

Cathie Wood-led Ark Investment Management believes the e-signature company DocuSign Inc DOCU could continue pulling more customers beyond the COVID-induced transition to online electronic agreements.

What Happened: The San Francisco, California-based company’s shares jumped 19% on Friday after reporting strong earnings, surpassing expectations on both revenue and earnings. It also raised guidance for the second quarter and fiscal year.

The New York-based investment firm Ark, which holds about 2.59 million shares, worth about $503.9 million, in DocuSign, said it believes the company appears to be gaining traction in international markets and the growth in its Agreement Cloud amid COVID-19 is not a temporary shift.

“Additions to the management team and clear strategic roadmaps have bolstered our confidence in the company,” the investment firm said in a note.

DocuSign offers the Agreement Cloud, a broad cloud-based software suite that enables users to automate the agreement process and provide legally binding e-signatures from nearly any device. The company was founded in 2003 and completed its IPO in May 2018.

Why It Matters: Online or electronic agreements have become increasingly popular with organizations during the pandemic.

BofA Securities had in April estimated that DocuSign will “continue benefiting from a strong adoption cycle, stemming from demand for a cloud based solution which reduces contract execution cycles time from weeks to less than a day."

Price Action: DocuSign shares closed 19.76% higher at $233.24 on Friday.