Cathie Wood adds to Circle and SpaceX positions as SpaceX shares tumble 13.6%

On Wednesday, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest bought about $17.3 million of Circle stock and ~$20 million of SpaceX stock.

Both buys landed on the same day SpaceX plunged 13.6% on a jump in AI spending.

Circle beats on profit but misses on revenue

Ark bought 273,343 Circle shares split among the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), the Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), and the Ark Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF).

Circle closed nearly flat that day, up 0.05% to $63.28, meaning the stake was worth around $17.3 million.

According to Ark’s disclosures, the USDC issuer sits ninth in ARKK’s holdings with a 3.68% weight worth $223.4 million. Ark limits any one position to 10% of a fund, so it’s diversified across its ETFs, and there’s still room to add.

In the second quarter, total revenue and reserve income for Circle reached $701 million, a 7% increase year-over-year. The figure was less than the $712 million to $718 million analysts had modeled. CRCL dropped about 3% in premarket trading before bouncing back.

Adjusted earnings were 18 cents a share, versus a consensus of 16 cents, and net income from continuing operations was $48 million. Adjusted EBITDA was up 8% to $143 million. Total USDC in circulation grew 19% to $73.3 billion, with onchain transaction volume increasing 151% to $14.8 trillion.

Circle’s reserve income, which is the money it earns on the assets backing USDC, was $668 million, up 5% from a year ago. But the yield on those reserves fell 66 basis points. Circle is sitting on more reserves and making less from each dollar of them.

Circle’s Arc blockchain is scheduled to launch on the public mainnet on September 16, with BlackRock, DTCC, Visa, and Mastercard listed among founding validators.

SpaceX sinks 13.6% on a sixfold capex jump

Ark bought 181,830 SpaceX shares in ARKK, the Ark Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ), ARKW, and the Ark Space & Defense Innovation ETF (ARKX), amounting to a ~$20 million stake.

That order came as SpaceX dropped 13.6% to $108.27, below its $135 IPO price. Earnings coverage from Cryptopolitan said revenue had soared 92% year over year to $7.8 billion, along with a $541 million net loss.

Investors were spooked by spending after capital expenditures rose to $18.4 billion, a sixfold increase in the quarter, mostly to build out AI infrastructure.

SpaceX expects $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2030, or possibly 2029, ahead of an earlier 2031 target, Elon Musk told the call.

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