Katie Wood's funds have cut their stake in Tesla. Does she doubt the future of robotaxis?

Katie Wood cut her stake in Tesla stock three times last week. Exchange-traded funds under her management have been selling the automaker's securities even as it prepares for the long-anticipated launch of its robotaxi service in June. Wood has previously spoken repeatedly about the great potential of autonomous driving and this Tesla project in particular. She estimated that the company's shares could rise 660% by 2029 thanks to it. 

Katie Wood's flagship ARK Innovation ETF got rid of 27.4k shares of Tesla stock on Tuesday, May 27, followed by 15.8k on Wednesday and another 6.5k on Friday, according to transaction reports quoted by Barron's. In all, nearly 50,000 shares were sold, with an estimated aggregate value of about $17 million.

ARK did not respond to Barron's request for comment. 

Tesla shares fell 0.6% in early extended trading on June 3, but then recovered the fall and went into a small plus. At the end of the session a day earlier, the company lost 1.3% of its value amid reports of declining sales of Tesla electric cars in several European countries, except Norway. They fell for the fifth month in a row, despite expansion of the market itself. And the company's quotes have fallen by about 15% since the beginning of the year;

At the same time, Tesla shares rose by 23% in May: they were supported, among other things, by the news that Ilon Musk has finished his work in the White House and is ready to focus on business,  writes Barron's. In addition, optimism surrounding the upcoming launch of the robotaxi service - on-demand rides using CyberCab's unmanned electric vehicles, writes Zacks. He notes that «the excitement is already built into the stock price,» and «whether Tesla will be able to deliver on its promise remains to be seen.» 

Most of Wall Street is optimistic about the company, with 28 analysts recommending buying the stock, 15 recommending holding and 12 recommending selling, shows MarketWatch. The consensus forecast for the securities has a target price of $308.7, suggesting a 9.7% upside to the close of trading on Monday, June 2.   

The launch of robotaxis has been cited by many in the market as one of the main drivers of growth in company stocks. In April, during a call with investors, Ilon Musk said he planned to launch fully autonomous ridesharing operations in Texas in June, but didn't give an exact date. Last week, he wrote on social media X that Tesla is already testing unmanned Model Ys and no incidents have occurred yet. Bloomberg citing sources disclosed that the launch is scheduled for June 12; the company has neither confirmed nor denied this.

Katie Wood is just among those known to be bullish on Tesla stock and confident in the company's future dominance in the autonomous driving segment. According to the estimate of the ARK fund, Tesla's shares could rise to $2600 by 2029, that is, by 660%, with about 90% of the company's value and profits coming from robotaxis, Benzinga writes.

Despite the sale of the automaker's securities last week, it remains the Katie Wood fund's largest position with a stake of nearly 13% - based on current market value, that's about $715 million, writes Investor's Business Daily. 

In April, Wood said she maintained a positive view on Tesla stock despite weak sales and a decline in value this year. She said the robotaxi launch will help consumers avoid the hefty cost of buying a car. «People will be able to pay for rides on an as-needed basis, like they do today with Uber and Lyft, only at lower prices and without the cost of a driver,» she said.  

Another well-known optimist about Tesla, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives - last week raised the company's stock target to the highest level on Wall Street at $500. That equates to a potential upside of about 46%. Ives, too, believes Tesla has huge potential to increase its market value with the upcoming launch of robotaxis, and overall opportunities in the AI and autonomous car market. 

The news that Musk has officially left his White House post, Ives commented this is «music to the ears of shareholders.»  «While Trump has said Musk will remain an adviser, we believe his days in politics are over after an experiment that clearly turned out to be reputationally damaging to the Tesla brand,» the analyst said.  

Katie Wood's funds also reduced their stake in AI software developer Palantir Technologies, write Benzinga. ARK sold 17,500 shares, valued at $2.3 million as of June 2. The decision comes amid privacy concerns and possible misuse of personal data, the publication notes. On Friday, The New York Times wrote that the Trump administration had secretly partnered with Palantir to collect information on U.S. citizens from various federal agencies.