Investor Cathie Wood is known for spotting innovative companies that will become tomorrow's superstars. One example is Tesla, the biggest holding in Wood's ARK Innovation ETF. That stock has climbed more than 1,000% since 2019. And this sort of selection has helped Wood's biggest funds outperform the S&P 500 over the past five years.
Of course, you can invest in Wood's funds. But there's another way to get in on some of the action. You can pick up some of Wood's favorite stocks. I've had a look at ARK Invest's latest buys and found three exciting possibilities.
One important note: These three players do carry a certain amount of risk. They represent great opportunity for aggressive investors. But if you're more of a cautious investor, you might prefer adding them to your watch list or taking a very small position.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Twist Bioscience
Twist Bioscience (TWST -2.38%) makes synthetic DNA. Its customers? Other companies that use this DNA for their research and development programs. What makes Twist stand out is its ability to produce a range of DNA products for customers at scale -- and at a low cost.
The company also aims to become a leader in DNA data storage. Back in 2020, Twist made the news when it stored an episode of a Netflix original series in its DNA. The idea is that eventually DNA could be regularly used to store important data of any kind. Recently, Twist said its first data-storage solution -- Century Archive -- would store data for 100 years. This is set to become Twist's first commercial data-storage product.
Twist already is posting major growth in revenue and orders for its products. In the most recent quarter -- the fiscal first quarter of 2022, which ended Dec. 31 -- revenue soared 49% to a record of $42 million. And orders climbed 48%.
Twist shares have dropped 78% from their peak back in January of 2021. At this level, they're trading at only 4 times book value, down from 16.
TWST price-to-book value. Data by YCharts.
2. Ginkgo Bioworks
Like Twist, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA -2.84%) also serves the research community. Ginkgo makes custom organisms used for research in a variety of fields. Its work ranges from projects in biotech labs to those at food and perfume companies. In any area where organisms could be part of product development, Ginkgo might play a role.
And this is resulting in solid growth. The company's 2021 annual revenue surged a whopping 309% to $314 million. The company added 31 new cell programs to its platform in the year. That's growth of 72% year over year.
Revenue growth isn't likely to be as dramatic this year as it was last year. The company forecasts a 3.5% to 8.3% revenue increase year over year. But importantly, Ginkgo is in a position to support its program and move toward profitability -- the company finished the year with more than $1.5 billion in cash.
Ginkgo is another growth stock Cathie Wood has picked up at a bargain price. The company's price-to-book value has fallen to 4 from more than 36 late last year. Today, the shares are trading for less than $4. So it's easy to make a small investment in this stock with enormous potential.
3. Coinbase Global
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (COIN -5.10%) has seen its share price tumble 40% since the start of the year. And again, this is an example of Cathie Wood looking for a good deal on a market leader. In the fourth quarter of last year, Coinbase reported $2.5 billion in revenue and $840 million in net income. Revenue and net income for the year topped $7 billion and $3 billion, respectively.
Some investors worry about rivals taking market share from Coinbase. That is a risk. But Coinbase has grown its number of users and has expanded its offerings to keep investors coming back. About 32% of monthly transacting users (MTUs) employed Coinbase's investing and non-investing products in the fourth quarter. That's up from 22% a year earlier. The use of both types of products should keep MTUs growing, Coinbase says.
The company's big strength is also a weakness at times. Revenue is tied to the popularity of cryptocurrency trading. So if crypto transactions are down, Coinbase will suffer. Transaction revenue makes up most of its overall revenue. But the company's subscription and services revenue is on the rise; it more than doubled from 2020 to 2021. So if you're optimistic about the future of cryptocurrency, it's worth considering a stake in this dynamic crypto exchange.
