What happened
Shares of Skillz (SKLZ +0.58%) were rising 2% in midday trading on Monday after investing guru Cathie Wood decided to pick up yet another tranche of the mobile esports platform's stock.
This is the second time in as many weeks Wood has bought into the esports company.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
While Wood's ARK Invest exchange-traded funds have cooled off considerably this year as the stock market cycled out of her tech-centric investing style, the vote of confidence from the money manager indicates she still has a lot of faith in Skillz's business.
She bought nearly 2 million shares for her ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK 1.25%) late last week and has been buying regularly since late October.
Now what
Skillz enables users to wager real money on mobile games played, but also permits users to play games with non-monetary stakes. It has a long-term goal of expanding into non-gaming competitive play, such as fitness or education, to further open the pool of users to new verticals.
With Wood scooping up millions of shares of Skillz stock, shares of which remain 75% below the highs they hit earlier this year, it pits her against the short-sellers who still have a sizable amount of shares sold short.
Nearly a quarter of all of the mobile esports platform's stock is short, and a bullish attitude like that exhibited by the money manager could entice others to follow suit. Days to cover, though, is currently at 3.5, not excessively high (anything over seven days is considered a lot) and suggesting a short squeeze is not imminent.
Still, after Wood had sold down almost all of her stake in the company, she obviously thinks there is good reason to expect Skillz to finally live up to its potential.
