Virgin Galactic Shares Exploded This Week For This Reason
Author By Sophia VidaPosted on Shares of Virgin Galactic were soaring over 20% on Thursday after Tesla investor Ark Investment Management revealed that it will launch a space-themed ETF.
The fund manages a total of $42 billion in ETF products according to Bloomberg estimates.
Virgin Galactic, who is co-founded by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson and whose
chairman is the billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya, are expecting to be included in Ark Investment Management’s ARK Space Exploration ETF.
Ark, which is led by Cathie Wood, intends to invest in domestic and foreign companies engaged in space exploration and innovation and to hold 40 to 55 stocks.
The Ark Space Exploration ETF will trade under the ticker ARKX, and will include companies “leading, enabling, or benefitting from technologically enabled products and/or services that occur beyond the surface of the Earth,” according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Branson’s stake in Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. surged by about $300 million after Ark said it was starting a space-focused exchange-traded fund.
Wood founded Ark in 2014. “I founded ARK Invest to focus solely on disruptive innovation, primarily in the public equity markets, and to add new dimensions to research, becoming the first “sharing economy” company in the asset management space,” stated Wood in 2017.
“Innovation typically offers long-term growth opportunities but, with an accelerating shift of funds toward passive and index-based investing, as well as outsized flows into private markets, I believe a void in research and portfolio management has opened up in the public markets. With our focus on public equities, ARK aims to fill this void by investing in the most innovative companies that we believe will deliver long-term growth during the next five to ten years.”
The ARK Innovation ETF boasts Tesla Inc. as its biggest holding.
Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.
