Cathie Wood's Wednesday Wisdom? Bets On Airbnb's Platform Expansion, Dumps Palantir At Peak

On Wednesday, Cathie Wood-led Ark Invest executed significant trades, including a notable purchase of Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB), a sell-off of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) , and strategic adjustments in cryptocurrency ETFs like the 3iQ Solana Staking ETF (SOLQ.U) and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (BATS:ARKB).

The Airbnb Trade

Ark Invest’s flagship fund, the Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKK), acquired 214,624 shares of Airbnb. This move coincided with Airbnb’s announcement of a major platform expansion, integrating services and experiences into its app, aiming to broaden its business scope beyond traditional lodging. The purchase reflects Ark’s confidence in Airbnb’s growth trajectory, especially with the company’s strategic shift. On Wednesday, Airbnb shares ended the day at $137.45, the Ark trade was valued at $29.5 million.

The Palantir Trade

In contrast, ARKK offloaded 206,881 shares of Palantir. This decision comes amid Palantir’s stock rally, which has been described as a classic ‘sell the news’ scenario. Despite positive earnings, Palantir’s stock has been on an upward trend, suggesting that Ark Invest might be capitalizing on current market conditions. Ark’s Wednesday trade was valued at $26.9 million. Palantir shares ended the day at $130.18. On Tuesday, Ark had offloaded 4,791 Palantir shares worth $613,727. Ark has been reducing its Palantir exposure. Currently, the Alex Karp-led company accounts for 5.75% of the total holdings of Ark.

The 3iQ Solana Staking ETF Trade and The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF Trade

Ark Invest continues to show interest in the cryptocurrency space by purchasing 550,000 shares of the 3iQ Solana Staking ETF through both Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKF) and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (BATS:ARKW). This ETF has gained traction since its debut, offering exposure to Solana’s (CRYPTO: SOL) price movements and staking rewards. On Wednesday, SOLQ.U ended the day at $13.86 in Toronto, making the Ark trade worth $7.6 million.

Meanwhile, Ark Invest reduced its holdings in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, selling 76,461 shares in ARKF and ARKW. Notably, Ark had on earlier occasions reduced its exposure to its own Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) fund. Wednesday’s trade was valued at $7.9 million. ARKB ended the day at $103.01.

Other Key Trades:

• Sold 668,918 shares of Avidxchange Holdings Inc. in ARKF.
• Sold 132,149 shares of UiPath Inc. in ARKF.
• Bought 31,983 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG in ARKK.
• Bought 22,471 shares of GitLab Inc. in ARKW.
• Bought 32,188 shares of Nextdoor Holdings Inc. in ARKW.

Photo Courtesy: T. Schneider on Shutterstock.com

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Shivdeep Dhaliwal