Cathie Wood: Uber And Lyft Missed The Boat

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood isn't betting on Uber Technologies Inc UBER and LYFT Inc LYFT over Tesla Inc TSLA.

What Happened: Wood, CEO of New York-based Ark Invest, said in a tweet Saturday night that Uber and Lyft missed out on a data opportunity that ties in to AI — and which companies will most benefit from it.

Wood said the ride-sharing companies "stayed private too long and lost the plot. They could have incentivized their drivers to put sensors on their cars and collect data much faster than even $TSLA."

$UBER and $LYFT stayed private too long and lost the plot. They could have incentivized their drivers to put sensors on their cars and collect data much faster than even $TSLA. Autonomous is an AI project. The winners will have the most high quality data and the best AI expertise https://t.co/oHCQv2sGlw

— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) December 27, 2020

The tweet was in response to a question about Ark Invest's portfolio.

Data collection and AI are closely intertwined because machine learning systems develop faster and with greater precision when they are paired with large data sets.

Why It Matters: Wood's opinion carries weight. She has become the breakout star of the 2020 bull market as her actively-managed ETFs generate phenomenal returns. Shares of her ARK Innovation ETF ARKK are up over 163% this year.

ARK has predicted Tesla shares will hit $7,000 in 2024. Tesla is the top holding in the Ark Innovation ETF, at 9.98% of assets.

Photo courtesy: Dan Gold on Unsplash.