Cathie Wood's Ark Invest unloads 11.7 million shares of Palantir in a post-earnings selling spree
- Ark funds sold more than 11.7 million shares of Palantir Technologies on Tuesday, the third time in a week.
- The $123.2 million sale came as the data analytics company's stock fell after an earnings miss.
Cathie Wood's Ark Invest ditched another chunk of Palantir Technologies stock in the wake of the data-analytics company's earnings miss, selling more than 11.7 million shares on Tuesday.
The sales were worth more than $123.2 million, based on Tuesday's closing price of $10.48 for Palantir.
Five of Ark's six active exchange-traded funds shed the stock, according to a trade notification from the firm. The flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) sold the most, letting go of 9.4 million.
In 2021, Ark ETFs loaded up on Palantir, building a near $1 billion stake in the company founded by Peter Thiel that has been a favorite of retail traders. As recently as November, the funds bought more than a million shares as the stock price dipped, and continued buying in the early weeks of 2022.
But Tuesday's sales are the third time Ark has disposed of Palantir stock since the company released its fourth-quarter financial report last Thursday. It posted earnings per share of 2 cents, missing analysts' target of 4 cents.
Palantir has dropped about 25% since that report, and it is down more than 50% in the last three months. It was up 1.72% at $10.66 in premarket trading Wednesday, after closing 4.9% lower Tuesday.
In the wake of the earnings report on Friday, Ark disposed of 13.5 million Palantir shares worth $148.9 million at the time. A day earlier, it shed 4.7 million of the stock for almost $56.2 million.
The disposals last week reduced Ark's total Palantir holdings by half, from about 25 million shares to 12 million.
Meanwhile, Ark added to its holdings in Tesla on Tuesday, spending more than $20 million on 24,366 shares. The electric-car maker's stock closed 4.14% lower at $821.53 in that day's trading session, and is down 22.26% year to date.
ARK Invest's flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) had a stellar performance in 2020, surging over 150%, but disappointed in 2021 by dropping 23%. It is down about 30% in 2022.