Ark Invest's Cathie Wood Invests Heavily in Self-Driving Tech and Electric Flying-Taxi Stocks in Q3
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood is known for making bold stock trades in high-growth, disruptive companies spanning AI, autonomous robotics, space exploration, cryptocurrency, and genome development.
She gained prominence when her firm’s ETFs soared more than 100% during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, outpacing broad market indices significantly.
Wood maintains her conviction that today’s innovations are the fastest route to future growth. In Q3, she made substantial portfolio adjustments, selling millions of biotech and consumer discretionary shares to increase her stakes in AI-related companies.
Focus on Self-Driving Vehicles and Flying Taxis
Interestingly, her AI investments last quarter were heavily focused on firms developing self-driving technology and electric flying-taxis.
Tesla: A Key Holding
According to the latest 13F-HR filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Wood’s Ark Invest Management bought over 512,160 shares of Tesla (Nasdaq:TSLA) for $195.2 million (£148.7 million) in Q3.
A long-time Tesla bull, Wood’s investment coincided with shareholder approval of Elon Musk’s $1 trillion (£762.2 billion) pay package. She predicted the package would be approved ‘decisively’, despite some fierce opposition.
‘It is a win-win for all of us if Elon succeeds this time around the way he did the last time,’ she said in a recent interview.
Tesla continues to invest heavily in automation, AI, and the deployment of Optimus robots. Musk’s $1 trillion pay depends on Tesla deploying 1 million robotaxis. Analysts like Wedbush’s Dan Ives believe Tesla will launch robotaxis in over 30 US cities by next year, with some predicting regulatory hurdles related to full self-driving (FSD) will be cleared faster under the Trump administration.
Ives estimates Tesla could dominate around 70% of the global autonomous market over the next decade, with FSD penetration potentially exceeding 50%.
Aurora Innovation: Expanding Ark Invest’s Autonomous Holdings
Ark Invest also bought over 2 million shares of Aurora Innovation (Nasdaq:AUR) for $10.6 million (£8 million), at an average price of $5.32 (£4.06) per share.
Despite a 32.8% decline in Aurora’s stock year-to-date, the company shows signs of near-term upside after narrowing Q3 losses and increasing year-over-year revenue.
Aurora’s recent milestones include launching its second driverless 600-mile route from Fort Worth to El Paso and planning to deploy hundreds of driverless trucks powered by its next-generation Aurora Driver hardware in 2026 to meet rising demand.
The company has also surpassed 100,000 driverless miles on public roads, maintaining a strong safety record. Its core architecture, allowing seamless integration across multiple truck platforms, is now embedded with Volvo’s VNL Autonomous, marking a key step towards scalable supply chain solutions.
Betting on Electric Air Taxis
Wood’s firm increased its stake in Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) in Q3, buying 1.72 million shares for $17.5 million (£13.3 million). Ark now owns approximately 31.3 million shares.
Archer has narrowed its Q3 losses and entered agreements to acquire control of Hawthorne Airport in Los Angeles for $126 million (£96 million), which will serve as the operational hub for its planned L.A. air taxi network.
The airport will also act as a testing ground for Archer’s AI-powered aviation technologies, developed in collaboration with airline partners. Additionally, Archer acquired Lilium’s patent portfolio for $21 million (£16 million), gaining access to advanced ducted fan technology, high-voltage systems, flight controls, electric engines, and propellers.
Although Archer shares are down 11.2% year-to-date, analysts surveyed by TipRanks rate the stock as a ‘Strong Buy’ with a 12-month target price of $12.20 (£9.30), implying more than 36% upside from current levels.
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