Cathie Wood, chief of Ark Investment Management, is known for making big bets on disruptive technology stocks. Sometimes, she’ll even buy when these stocks are rising, and that’s what she did this week.
Wood just made a massive move in Nvidia (NVDA), buying about $81.5 million of the semiconductor stock as the AI chip giant continues to gain momentum.
Last year, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF gained 35.49%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s return of 17.88% in the same period. So far this year, Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is up 15.83% as of writing, while the S&P 500 surged 11.77%, Yahoo Finance data shows.
Wood gained a reputation after the Ark Innovation ETF delivered a rosy 153% return in 2020. But her style also brings painful losses in bearish markets, as seen in 2022, when the ETF tumbled more than 60%.
Those swings have weighed on Wood’s long-term gains. As of Sept. 30, her Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -4.06%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 12.18% over the same period, according to data from Morningstar.
Cathie Wood remains optimistic about AI and tech revolution
Wood focuses on high-tech companies across artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology, and robotics. She believes these businesses have strong growth potential, but their volatility often causes fluctuations in the Ark’s funds.
Over the decade ended 2025, the Ark Innovation ETF wiped out nearly $5 billion in investor wealth, according to a report by Morningstar’s analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the fourth-biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in the ranking.
Related: Cathie Wood buys $19.2 million of tumbling AI stock
Wood recently attributed rising interest rates partly to stronger economic growth, rather than higher inflation.
“Interest rates seem to be rising because of real yields more than inflation,” Wood said in an X post on Sept. 29. “Real growth is surprising on the high side of expectations in this technology revolution.”
Wood has long been optimistic about AI, which she sees as a major driver of productivity, economic growth, and corporate profits in the years ahead. She has also pushed back against recent fears that AI could pose an existential threat to humanity.
On Sept. 12, Wood reposted a post by David Sacks on X, saying he makes a good case that the “AI will kill humanity” headlines were orchestrated.
At the same time, Wood acknowledged that AI, like other technologies, can be used for harmful purposes. She said people such as Elon Musk who highlight AI’s potential risks are “doing us a great service,” adding that “half of the solution—including AI—is understanding the problem.”
In August, Wood said U.S. corporate profits remain unusually strong, with domestic profits before tax at 13.2% of GDP, a level she said is near multi-decade highs.
Some of that strength came from the massive monetary and fiscal stimulus during the pandemic, but Wood believes another factor is helping sustain margins today: companies are leaning into AI and productivity gains to protect them.
“I think we’re still early in seeing how far that can go,” she said, adding that companies that use AI effectively will “separate themselves from the ones that don’t.”
Some investors agree with Wood’s optimism. Over the past month through Sept. 29, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.68 billion in net inflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.
Cathie Wood buys $81.5 million of Nvidia stock
On Sept. 29, Wood’s Ark funds bought a total of 356,681 shares of Nvidia (NVDA), according to Ark’s daily trading information sent to TheStreet.
These shares were worth about $81.5 million based on the latest price of $228.38, making it one of Wood’s largest recent buys.
Nvidia remains at the center of the AI boom, with its chips powering AI data centers and used by major cloud providers including Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOGL) and Meta (META).
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On Sept. 28, a day before Wood’s massive purchase, Nvidia announced a historic $150 billion increase to its share repurchase program. This raises the company’s total remaining buyback authorization to $235 billion, planned for execution through fiscal year 2028. Nvidia stock rose 1.7% that day.
“Our cash generation gives us the capacity to invest in the technologies that advance this transformation and return capital to shareholders. This authorization reflects our confidence in the long-term opportunity ahead,” said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in a statement.
In August, Nvidia reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results and issued revenue guidance above Wall Street estimates. The stock has surged nearly 9% since its Aug. 26 reporting.
Nvidia reported adjusted earnings of $2.22 per share, topping the $2.10 estimate. Its revenue reached $96.22 billion, above expectations of $92.17 billion.
CFO Colette Kress said Nvidia expects fiscal 2028 revenue growth of about 70%, well above analysts’ 44% estimate. The company’s target is already being limited by supply constraints.
“Customers’ forecasts point to our growth doubling next year. However, as I mentioned earlier, we expect to grow approximately 70% as we are supply-constrained,” she said during the earnings call.
Investors have cooled a bit after Nvidia’s historic three-year rally. The stock is up about 22.5% year to date, outperforming the S&P 500 but trailing chipmaking peer AMD, which has surged 185.7%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which has rallied 78.3% over the same period.
Nvidia has an average price target of $324.32 among 31 analysts, implying 42% upside from $228.38, according to TipRanks.
Nvidia is not a top-10 holding in the Ark Innovation ETF.
Top 10 Holdings in the Ark Innovation ETF by market value and weight as of Sept. 30, 2026:
- Tesla (TSLA) – $740.6 million, 9.08%
- SpaceX (SPCX) – $504.5 million, 6.19%
- Tempus AI (TEM) – $481.7 million, 5.91%
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL) – $373.0 million, 4.58%
- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) – $363.4 million, 4.46%
- Coinbase (COIN) – $359.2 million, 4.41%
- Twist Bioscience (TWST) – $357.1 million, 4.38%
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD) – $315.1 million, 3.87%
- 10x Genomics (TXG) – $284.5 million, 3.49%
- Shopify (SHOP) – $264.1 million, 3.24%
Other than buying Nvidia shares, Wood’s latest trades included buying Tesla (TSLA), Broadcom (AVGO), CoreWeave (CRWV), SpaceX (SPCX), Airbnb (ABNB), Block (XYZ), Veracyte (VCYT), and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA).
She also sold shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Alphabet (GOOGL), Tempus AI (TEM), 10x Genomics (TXG), Twist Bioscience (TWST), and Zillow (Z).
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