My first pick for the $ARKX Space Exploration is Raven Industries, $RAVN. I believe it flies under the “radar” since some do not understand the company and what it does.

Raven Applied Technology delivers impactful tech to growers/custom applicators around the world. Deeply committed to feeding a growing world population, Raven develops precision agriculture products that promote environmental stewardship, allowing farmers to grow more with less.

Raven Engineered Films provides high-quality flexible films and sheeting that solve demanding containment challenges in the field. With a focus on preserving+ enhancing customer investments while protecting Earth's resources, Raven develops lighter, stronger film and sheeting...

solutions that integrate sustainable environmental design practices for long-range performance. Most likely at this point you’re thinking, why on earth would Cathie and ARK buy this company? Well, fortunately, they’re already constantly being bought by $ARKQ. Here’s why.

Raven Aerostar shapes the stratospheric platform market with the world's most advanced and reliable lighter-than-air technologies. Over the course of more than 60 years, our stratospheric design and development have made long-duration missions in the stratosphere possible.

In tandem, Raven Aerostar also serves the defense market in advanced signal processing and intelligent radar systems. Yes. This company has multiple solutions ranging from stratospheric balloons and airships, to pay-load recovery parachutes and protective wear.

Raven Aerostar's Zero Pressure Balloons have been used as highly reliable platforms by scientific and military end-users since the late 1940’s. These high altitude balloons are designed to successfully carry payloads from a few pounds to over four tons to the edge of space...

to gather valuable information. Quickly deployable and cost-effective, these high altitude balloons are capable of short + long duration flights that serve a wide range of dynamic and critical missions. Just 1 of ~10 application available via web-page: https://www.ravenaerostar.com/products/balloons-airships

What’s even better, for me as a growth/SPAC investor but with a strong foundational grounding, is their financials:

$138.2MM cash on balance sheet
$96.1MM Q3 2020 (23% growth from previous quarter)
$382MM Year ended 2020
$406MM Year ended 2019
Market cap ~ $1.34B (Yahoo)

This company shows a 22% YoY growth in Q4 2020, mostly due to OEM operations and a record number of customer flight completions. $4.6MM invested in R&D on Autonomous Technology, Raven Composites, and the Raven Thunderbird (Aerostar) System. And generated $21MM in FCF.

Earnings per share for Q4 2020 had a Wall Street consensus of 0.07. $RAVN reported $0.28. A 303.29% beat. Amazing. Unfortunately, you see this beat already priced in to the current stock price.

My theory is:

> Cathie Woods has been buying consistently in $ARKQ
> Clear market leader
> Ground breaking aerospace tech consistently improved with significant spend on R&D

A lot of people say she will buy $SRAC, $NPA - but I think she first buys what she already owns.

This includes: $TSLA for SpaceX (infrastructure), $RAVN for stratospheric balloons and payload delivery, $NNDM for 3D printing, $SPCE for consumer space travel and $EXPC for air-taxis and eVTOL.

Wait — why is he talking about air taxis and $EXPC?!? Well, looking through the SEC filing for the launch of the $ARKX fund you’ll notice, Cathie isn’t limiting herself to just pure-play space stocks, no. Much more than that - to allow her to diversify accordingly.

The main reason Cathie launches this ETF, is to buy more Tesla. This is a fact. As a rule for ETFs you are not able to hold more than 10% of any one stock. With the recent explosion of $TSLA she has been selling a lot to ensure she stays within limits. This alleviates that issue.

Once you look through this filing, the stocks she will buy become much easier to predict. It’s almost obvious. She has been adding $NNDM to two of her ETFs, Tesla is in all of them, and she recently started buying $EXPC. It’s written in the stars.

Anyway - I hope there is something here for everyone. I personally like $RAVN for a long-term hold as it is a solid company with solid earnings and a path to significant growth once the pandemic has slowed and their operations can return to full functionality.

If you’re a SPACmaniac like me, you can buy up some shares of $EXPC. I would not be shocked if $NPA is added, but it clashes with SpaceX and she does not like Tesla competitors. $SRAC is possible since it has SpaceX as a customer. $EXPC is still relatively cheap.

If you want a high-risk, high-return play - I suggest $NNDM. There is a lot of potential here with possible acquisitions in the work and an extremely strong balance sheet due to numerous direct offerings at multiple different price points to institutions.

The most recent was actually today - allowing you to buy some shares at a discount if you so wish. I will mostly likely start a position in the following stocks today:

$RAVN - longer-term play
$EXPC - SPAC eVTOL and Air Taxis
$NNDM - 3D printing enabling aerospace electronics

I hope this thread was useful. I will not be buying Tesla at this price since I cannot justify the valuation, no matter how hard I try. But I will not be naive and believe the generation of this ETF is any more than a technique for ARK to buy more Tesla.

The fact companies like $SRAC have sky-rocketed after hours, while $RAVN has stayed flat or even dropped, is because as I said, no one realises this company is more than an advanced plastics company. They do so much more. That’s why I like it. $SRAC isn’t even in any ARK ETFs.

Thanks for reading. I am not a financial advisor, just a simple burner account and American Psycho. Please invest/trade carefully and trade according to your plan. Do your own research on the companies and invest if you so wish. Any questions on these companies - please ask!

If you’re not yet convinced about what Raven Industries are capable of doing - please watch the following video: . This all comes at a cost of cents on the dollar compared to full-scale satellite systems.