Cathie Wood loads up on over $7 million worth of Block and Robinhood shares

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest bought shares in Block and Robinhood this week as the two crypto-adjacent companies prepared to release earnings.

Ark purchased 69,756 Block shares and 343,623 Robinhood shares on Wednesday across two funds, according to its latest trade filing.

Block shares closed down at $54.64 yesterday ahead of earnings today. Based on this price, the Ark Innovation ETF’s purchase cost around $3.8 million.

Jack Dorsey’s firm delivers earnings this evening, with gross payments volume — number of payments less refunds of merchants using the companies payment software — one of the key metrics to watch. In the third quarter of 2021, this figure came in at over $45 billion, and analysts estimate it rose to $54.3 billion in the past quarter, according to data via Visible Alpha.

Robinhood gains

Robinhood finished at $11.40 yesterday, before releasing better-than-expected earnings after the close of trading. The retail investing platform traded higher after hours, closing at $11.85 in the extended session.

Ark’s Next Generation ETF added 303,129 Robinhood shares, worth over $3.3 million based on the price at close. Wood’s fund bought a further 40,494 Robinhood shares for its Ark Fintech Innovation ETF, worth an additional $460,000.

Robinhood beat analysts’ estimate of negative $48 million EBITDA last night, registering positive EBITDA of $47 million — up from negative $80 million in the second quarter. Crypto transaction revenue declined 12% to $51 million compared with the previous quarter, missing estimates of $58 million and down from $58 million in the second quarter. Overall the firm’s losses have narrowed, while monthly users are down.

Cathie Wood’s fund appears to be warming on crypto stocks again, with this just the latest crypto-related purchase. Last week the fund bought shares in Coinbase, Block and Robinhood. Ark Invest holds around 7.7 million Coinbase shares, worth over $450 million at the time of writing.

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