Cathie Wood, chief of Ark Investment Management, often adds to her favorite stocks when prices swing.
This time, according to an email shared with TheStreet, she’s buying $3.5 million of Robinhood stock, reversing her recent sales as the online brokerage rebounds from its second-quarter lows.
Last year, Wood’s 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, Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is up 12.09% as of Sept. 4, while the S&P 500 surged 12.75%, Yahoo Finance data shows.
Wood gained a reputation after the Ark Innovation ETF delivered a 153% return in 2020. But her style also brings painful losses in bearish markets, as seen in 2022, when the Ark Innovation ETF tumbled more than 60%.
Those swings have weighed on Wood’s long-term gains. As of Sept. 4, her Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -7.02%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 11.22% over the same period, according to data from Morningstar.
Cathie Wood says AI could help support high corporate profits
Wood typically 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 brings 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.
Wood remains optimistic about AI, which she sees as a major driver of productivity, economic growth, and corporate profits in the years ahead.
In an August post on X, 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.
Related: Cathie Wood buys $44.5 million of tumbling tech stock
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.”
Not all investors agree with Wood’s optimism. Over the past 12 months through Sept. 3, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.71 billion in net outflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.
Cathie Wood buys $3.5 million of Robinhood stock
On Sept. 4, Ark Innovation ETF bought 28,589 shares of Robinhood Markets Inc (HOOD), according to Ark’s daily trading information. Based on the latest closing price of $122.11, these stocks were worth about $3.5 million.
That purchase reversed Wood’s recent moves in Robinhood. She sold 25,009 Robinhood shares on Aug. 26 after unloading a much larger amount in July.
Robinhood is known for its commission-free trading platform for investors to buy and sell stocks, and also crypto. It generates revenue through payment for order flow (PFOF), interest earned on customer cash balances, margin lending, and subscription services.
Robinhood stock price often moves alongside Bitcoin because higher crypto prices tend to boost investor interest and trading activity on its platform. The shares have been on a roller coaster this year, falling below $70 during the second quarter as Bitcoin fell to about $68,000.
Related: Cathie Wood buys $53 million of popular semiconductor stock
During the second quarter, Robinhood’s transaction-based revenue rose 44% year over year to $776 million, but that was partially offset by a 38% drop in crypto revenue to $100 million, the company said in a press release.
But over the past month, Robinhood stock soared more than 30%, as bitcoin surged 23% to nearly $80,000 during the same period. Investor worries eased for now as Treasury yields fell and concerns about a Fed rate hike cooled.
Year-to-date, Robinhood stock is up 7.97% as of Sept. 4.
Some analysts are bullish on Robinhood stock. Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Bedell raised his Robinhood price target to $136 from $115 on Sept. 4 and kept a buy rating, according to The Fly.
The analyst cited faster-than-expected growth in Robinhood Chain fee revenue. Robinhood Chain is the company’s blockchain network, allowing people to trade tokenized assets.
Robinhood’s daily chain revenue remained below $200,000 through mid-August before jumping to $3.38 million on Sept. 1 and $4.01 million on Sept. 2, according to DeFiLlama data cited by the analyst.
Deutsche Bank said the growth is running well ahead of its previous forecasts and now expects Robinhood Chain revenue to surpass a $100 million annualized run rate for the foreseeable future.
Robinhood is now the seventh largest holding in the Ark Innovation ETF.
Top 10 Holdings in the Ark Innovation ETF by weight as of Sept. 4, 2026:
- Tesla (TSLA) – 9.62%
- SpaceX (SPCX) – 6.28%
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL) – 6.06%
- Tempus AI (TEM) – 5.17%
- Coinbase (COIN) – 4.76%
- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) – 4.55%
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD) – 4.28%
- Shopify (SHOP) – 3.37%
- Twist Bioscience (TWST) – 3.23%
- 10x Genomics (TXG) – 2.92%
Wood remains bullish on Bitcoin, pointing to its recent breakout relative to gold as a positive sign in the Sept. 5 episode of Ark’s “In The Know.”
“We’re big bulls on Bitcoin,” Wood said, calling it “a technology revolution” and “a new global monetary system.”
Wood also sees Bitcoin as a potential form of insurance as disruptive technologies reshape the economy. She expects AI and other technologies to put pressure on traditional businesses, potentially creating more financial risks.
“We think there will be counterparty risk if enough companies get into trouble,” Wood said. That could benefit both Bitcoin and gold, though she believes Bitcoin can function as “both a risk-off and a risk-on asset.”
Other than buying Robinhood shares, Wood’s latest trades included buying Veracyte (VCYT), Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), and 3iQ Solana Staking ETF (SOLQ.U), while selling Tempus AI (TEM) and Twist Bioscience (TWST).
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