What Happened?

Shares of genomics company Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ: PACB) jumped 6.1% in the afternoon session after Cathie Wood's investment firm, ARK Invest, purchased a substantial number of its shares. The firm's transaction reports showed the acquisition of 423,426 shares of Pacific Biosciences of California for approximately $724,058. This move was part of a series of end-of-year portfolio adjustments by ARK Invest. The purchases indicated a strategic tilt toward the biotechnology sector as the firm increased its holdings in several biotech companies.

The shares closed the day at $1.88, up 8.4% from previous close.

Is now the time to buy PacBio? Access our full analysis report here.

What Is The Market Telling Us

PacBio’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 83 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 28 days ago when the stock gained 4.5% on the news that the stock's positive momentum continued as the company announced advances in its RNA sequencing technology for lung cancer research. The stock’s climb continued a recent trend, following a 4.04% gain during the last trading day. The move extended a strong performance over the previous two weeks, in which the stock rose by more than 47%. Overall sentiment from analysts also remained positive, with a consensus "Buy" rating on the shares.

PacBio is up 4.4% since the beginning of the year, but at $1.88 per share, it is still trading 28.5% below its 52-week high of $2.63 from November 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of PacBio’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $72.47.

While Wall Street chases Nvidia at all-time highs, an under-the-radar semiconductor supplier is dominating a critical AI component these giants can’t build without. Click here to access our full research report.