Tesla Back As Ark's Darling: EV Giant Reclaims Top Spot In Cathie Wood's Flagship Fund After Over 2 Years

Tesla Inc. TSLA shares surged on Monday, propelling the electric vehicle maker back to the top holding in Cathie Wood‘s flagship  Ark Innovation ETF ARKK. This shift was also aided by Ark’s ongoing sell-off of Coinbase Global COIN shares, which previously held the leading position.

Tesla Now Holds The Lead: As of Tuesday, ARKK’s holdings in Tesla totaled $714.36 million, according to the firm’s website. Notably, Ark did not trade Tesla shares on Monday itself. Coinbase, now in second place, represents $714.63 million of the fund’s value.

Weighting and Share Count: Interestingly, both Tesla and Coinbase hold a weighting of 9.75% in ARKK. However, Tesla’s higher share count (4,129,696 vs. 2,780,772 for Coinbase) likely explains its top position.

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Why It Matters: Ark remains bullish on Tesla. The firm holds a $2,000 price target for the stock, largely based on the potential of its robotaxi business. Ark supported the stock throughout 2022’s weakness, even when Elon Musk sold Tesla shares to fund his acquisition of Twitter.

Ark’s Recent Tesla Strategy: While Tesla rebounded strongly in the first half of 2023 due to price cuts, Ark took profits. They continued selling even as the stock price suffered in the second half when the cuts failed to significantly increase sales. 

As the weakness intensified in 2024, Ark has propped up the stock on days it experienced acute weakness. On Friday, when the stock slumped on rumors of canceling its low-end EV, Ark bought over $22 million worth of stock.

Tesla In Other Ark ETFs: Tesla remains present in Ark’s other ETFs. Their 13F filing with the SEC in January showed they held 3,802,519 Tesla shares at the end of Q4, valued at $944.85 million.

Shifting Tides: Tesla lost its top spot in ARKK to Coinbase in January 2022, according to Seeking Alpha. Ark has been selling Coinbase since July 2023, a trend that continued with the launch of their spot Bitcoin BTC/USD ETF, the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF ARKB.

Premarket Movement: In premarket trading on Tuesday, ARKK dipped slightly by 0.08% to $48.06, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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