What happened
Shares of Skillz (SKLZ 5.25%) were down 2.3% in morning trading Thursday after investment manager Cathie Wood sold a half-million shares of the mobile esports platform from her Ark Invest exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
So what
Wood was the flavor of the month earlier this year as her ETFs exploded in 2020, generating outsize returns for investors. Year to date, though, her heavy investments in tech-related issues have caused her to dramatically underperform the broad indexes as the market cycled out of tech stocks.
While the S&P 500 is up about 18% this year, her popular Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK 0.55%) and Ark Next Generation Innovation ETF (ARKW 0.76%) are down 1.4% and up 3.2%, respectively.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Although her ETFs' performance has cooled down, Wood commands a following on Wall Street. And because she posts all the stocks her funds buy and sell each day, her decisions can still move share prices. Earlier this year when she was loading up on Skillz stock, it sent the price running higher.
Even so, Skillz is down 27% year to date, which might be why Wood unloaded a good amount. The company continues to hold a lot of promise as esports remain a growing niche, particularly with the advent of wagering on gameplay starting to take off.
