Last year's market guru is rolling again. ARK Invest's Cathie Wood is seeing her exchange-traded funds (ETFs) bounce back in recent weeks, regaining the momentum that made her high-growth investing style the envy of fund managers in 2020.
She's been shopping for bargains these days, and with her strong track record she may have found some this week. On Tuesday she increased her positions in Walt Disney (DIS 1.54%), DocuSign (DOCU 1.56%), and UiPath (PATH 3.49%). Let's take a closer look at her shopping list.
Image source: Walt Disney.
Walt Disney
Disney isn't a name investors typically associate with Wood's aggressive growth style of investing, but there's no denying that the House of Mouse can be disruptive. It's a major player in streaming with the success of Disney+ and Hulu. Its 10-figure acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm give it an unmatched catalog of intellectual property. Disney's theme parks are the most visited gated attractions in the world.
Disney hit an all-time high just above $203 four months ago, fueled by the success of Disney+ and the market anticipating a reopening of the economy. It has given back some of those gains, and now trades nearly 15% away from revisiting that high-water mark.
It's hard to bet against Disney. Disney+ has been around for less than two years, and it has already topped 100 million subscribers. Disney films routinely top box office reports, and now that folks are returning to the multiplex, theme park, and eventually cruise ship, Disney is everywhere families will be in the near future.
DocuSign
The pandemic made in-office signing of contracts, leases, and other important documents a thing of the past, and there's no going back to wet signatures now. DocuSign has emerged as a niche leader in this booming field, and unlike many companies that thrived through the COVID-19 crisis it's easy to see DocuSign continuing to grow in the next phase of humanity's recovery.
DocuSign has evolved into a full digital documents management specialist, and the growth has been stellar. Revenue rose 39% and then 49% in its last two fiscal years, and the 58% increase it posted in its latest report is its headiest growth as a public company.
This isn't just a top-line growth story. DocuSign is now profitable, and it has beaten Wall Street's profit target by at least 57% in each of the past quarters. The stock peaked in the fall of last year, but it's been rallying to the point that it's just a good trading day away or two from setting a new high.
UiPath
Finally we have to talk about UiPath. Wood added to her UiPath position in three of ARK Invest's ETFs. UiPath isn't a household name, but it's a name that growth investors are warming up to as a leading provider of enterprise software for robotics and automation.
UiPath has been public for less than three months, but it's been a wild ride. UiPath went public at $56, peaking at $90 in May before falling back to the high $60s. UiPath is living up to the initial hype with its growth. UiPath's top line rose 65% in its latest quarter, and that follows an 81% top-line pop in fiscal 2021. UiPath is the only name on this list that isn't profitable these days, but the ceiling remains high for the company.
Wood knows what she's doing. It's good to always keep an eye on what she's buying.
