Cathie Wood Raises Exposure In Tesla Chinese Rival Backed By Warren Buffett

Cathie Wood-led Ark Investment Management on Monday sharply raised its exposure in the Chinese automaker BYD Co BYDDY but stayed away from buying shares in her favorite electric vehicle stock Tesla Inc TSLA and peer Xpeng Inc XPEV on the dip.

The popular stock-picking firm bought 53,228 shares — estimated to be worth $2.3 million based on Monday’s closing price— in the Shenzhen, China headquartered automaker that is quickly switching to making new energy vehicles. 

OTC stock of BYD, backed by Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) Chairman Buffett, closed 8.75% lower at $43.3 a share on Monday. The stock is down 38% year-to-date.

See Also: Warren Buffett-Backed Chinese Automaker Sold More Than Double EVs Than Nio, Xpeng, Li Combined In February

Tesla and Xpeng shares closed 3.6% lower and 13.8% lower, respectively, on Monday. This was Ark Invest’s first buy in BYD so far this year.

The St. Petersburg, Florida-based Ark Invest held 266,986 shares — worth $12.7 million — in BYD via the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF ARKQ ahead of Monday’s trade. No other ARK ETF owns shares in BYD.

The latest buy represents a 16.6% boost in Ark Invest’s stake in BYD.

See Also: Cathie Wood’s Ark Sits Out Thursday’s Dip In Favorite Stocks

Buffett owned about an 8% stake in the automaker that competes with Tesla and homegrown Chinese electric vehicle startups such as Nio Inc NIO, Xpeng, and Li Auto Inc LI.

In February, BYD sold more than double electric vehicles than the combined delivery volumes of Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto.

Photo: Courtesy of BYD