"Fear of the future is palpable, but crisis can create opportunities." Those were Cathie Wood's words from a letter she wrote and posted on the Ark Invest website earlier this month. Considering the volatility that rattled Wall Street's nerves last year, the sentiment in the first part of that statement will surely resonate with many investors.
But history suggests that the market will recover, and those who make savvy investments now will sow the seeds of future returns. Three such potentially potent picks are Roku (ROKU +2.43%), Rocket Lab (RKLB +1.95%), and Trimble (TRMB 0.99%). All of them can be found in Wood's Ark Invest portfolios, and investors who plant them in their portfolios now should reap rewards in the years to come.
NASDAQ: ROKU
Key Data Points
1. Roku
Shares of media-streaming platform operator Roku have plummeted by 80% since the start of the bear market. While the bears have been down on Roku's stock, Wood remains strongly optimistic about its potential, going so far as to state that the bull case for the stock represents upside of a whopping 3,100%. And she's putting her money where her mouth is. So far in January, the Ark Fintech Innovation ETF has bought 104,025 shares of Roku. Further demonstrating her enthusiasm, Roku also appears in the portfolio of Ark Next Generation Internet ETF, where it's the fund's third-largest holding.
Roku continues to make great strides in bringing new customers to its platform. During its third-quarter earnings presentation, the company reported that active accounts had grown by 16% year over year, but the number of streaming hours had risen 21%, illustrating that its users are spending more time on the platform. The market's concerns that a recession would impede its subscriber growth pressured the stock price in 2022, but this leader in the connected TV market is well-positioned to benefit from the long-term trend of consumers shifting their viewing time from traditional TV to connected TV.
NASDAQ: RKLB
Key Data Points
2. Rocket Lab
Found in two of Wood's funds -- the Ark Space Exploration and Innovation ETF and the Ark Autonomous Technology and Robotics ETF -- Rocket Lab is a stock well-known to investors who have their heads in the clouds -- and beyond.
The space company provides launch services in addition to spacecraft and satellite components. In its five-year history of sending rockets into orbit, Rocket Lab has emerged as one of the leaders in the new space race. While SpaceX launched rockets more frequently than any other U.S. operation last year, Rocket Lab was in second place.
With its growing backlog, Rocket Lab is drawing strong interest from customers as a launch services provider -- an auspicious sign that suggests the company will be able to capture an increasing amount of market share in that growing industry. According to Space Foundation, a nonprofit space industry organization, revenue tied to the global space economy totaled $469 billion in 2021. Citigroup forecasts that will grow steadily in the years to come with annual space economy spending rising to $1 trillion in 2040.
NASDAQ: TRMB
Key Data Points
3. Trimble
Like Rocket Lab, Trimble is also found in two Ark Invest ETFs. But while Rocket Lab is only a minor component of the portfolios it's a part of, Trimble is a sizable holding in both of them. It's the second-largest holding in the Ark Autonomous Technology and Robotics ETF, and represents the largest position in the Ark Space Exploration and Innovation ETF.
A leader in location solutions, Trimble uses GPS and global navigation satellite systems to offer real-time positioning data to clients in the agriculture and construction industries, among others. In a time when data is vital to help businesses thrive, Trimble provides a valuable tool its customers can use to reduce their expenses and improve profitability. The value of that tool is something that its clients come to recognize quickly. Proof of that can be found in Trimble's impressive net retention rate of more than 110%, which suggests that once customers explore the company's solutions, they tend to stick with them and expand their use of them. That fact, combined with the company's backlog of over $1.5 billion, implies that Trimble is well-positioned for growth.
And it's not just growth-focused investors who will find Trimble particularly appealing -- value investors will too. Currently, shares of Trimble are trading at 18.2 times forward earnings, representing a discount to their five-year average forward earnings multiple of 22.8.
The wrap-up
Smart growth investors know that simply because Wood endorses a stock, that's not enough reason by itself for them to follow suit. There's no substitute for doing your own due diligence in examining potential additions to your portfolio. Nonetheless, Roku, Rocket Lab, and Trimble are all tickers worth taking a closer look at, as they represent viable ways to invest in burgeoning industries. Those looking for a less speculative option among these three, however, may be more interested in Trimble, since its business is well-established.
