Cathie Wood, chief of Ark Investment Management, often sees a broad market sell-off as a great opportunity to add to her favorite technology investments.
That’s what she just did, buying millions of dollars worth of Nvidia (NVDA) shares as the AI chipmaker plunged more than 9% amid a sharp decline in technology stocks.
Last year, her 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 down 3.12% as of writing, while the S&P 500 surged 7.81%, 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%.
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Those swings have weighed on Wood’s long-term gains. As of Nov. 5, her Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -9.62%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 9.38% 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.
Wood defended her investment strategy after an audience member at a recent summit questioned ARK’s performance compared with the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ).
Related: Cathie Wood buys $10.9 million of tumbling tech stock
“Investors deserve to understand both their returns and the decisions behind them,” Wood said in an Oct. 5 post on X.
She argued that the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) and QQQ are built differently. QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, while ARK actively invests in companies it believes are driving disruptive innovation across industries, including healthcare, financial services, and transportation.
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 fears that AI could pose an existential threat to humanity.
In September, Wood reposted a post by David Sacks on X, saying he makes a good case that the “AI will kill humanity” headlines were orchestrated.
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.”
Not all investors agree with Wood’s optimism. Over the past month through Nov. 4, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $2.2 billion in net outflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.
Cathie Wood buys $47 million of Nvidia stock
On Nov. 5, Wood’s Ark funds bought a total of 252,592 shares of Nvidia Corporation (NVDA), according to Ark’s daily trading information sent to TheStreet. These shares were worth about $47 million based on the latest trading price of $186.1.
Wood made the purchase during a brutal market sell-off, as investors reacted to the midterm election results and worried that the outcome could cap the expansion of AI data centers.
Nvidia plunged 9.26% that day. Other semiconductor stocks also sank, with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) down 17.26%, Intel (INTC) down 10.33%, and SanDisk (SNDK) down more than 22%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) slumped 12.15%.
Wood also bought AMD shares on the same day.
Related: Cathie Wood buys $11.2 million of popular AI stock
But the market quickly reversed on the following day, Nov. 6. Nvidia stock is up 3.66%, and AMD jumped 9.63% as of writing.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett pushed back against concerns that the election results would derail the AI buildout, according to CNBC.
“We respect the localities that decide that’s what they want to do,” Hassett said. “But America is a big place, and right now, the data centers scheduled over the next couple of years aren’t affected by these ballot initiatives.”
Nvidia stock is roughly flat year to date, kind of lacking momentum after soaring 239% in 2023, 171% in 2024, and nearly 39% in 2025.
But many Wall Street analysts are still bullish on the stock. Among 33 analysts who issued price targets over the past three months, the average 12-month target is $322.5, suggesting a 73% gain from the stock’s current level, TipRanks data shows. Those price targets range from $275 to $465.
“Agents are where the next leg of AI spend goes, and in our view Nvidia just secured the pole position for that build at the hyperscaler with the most people to put them in front of,” Yorkville Ives Managing Partner Dan Ives said in an Oct. 27 research note sent to TheStreet. He reiterated an outperform rating and $300 price target on Nvidia.
Nvidia is scheduled to report earnings on Nov. 17, which could be the next major catalyst for the stock.
Nvidia currently ranks eighth in the Ark Innovation ETF.
Top 10 holdings in the Ark Innovation ETF by market value and weight as of Nov. 5, 2026:
- Tesla (TSLA): $606.12 million, 10.74%
- Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX): $410.80 million, 7.28%
- Tempus AI (TEM): $342.01 million, 6.06%
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL): $272.64 million, 4.83%
- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP): $266.69 million, 4.73%
- OpenAI Group: $249.37 million, 4.42%
- Coinbase Global (COIN): $231.46 million, 4.10%
- Nvidia (NVDA): $209.02 million, 3.70%
- Shopify (SHOP): $187.15 million, 3.32%
- Twist Bioscience (TWST): $176.12 million, 3.12%
Wood made many trades during the Nov. 5 sell-off.
Other than buying Nvidia shares, she also bought shares of SpaceX (SPCX), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Alphabet (GOOG), Cerebras Systems (CBRS), Veracyte (VCYT), Rocket Lab (RKLB), Twist Bioscience (TWST), 10x Genomics (TXG), Coinbase Global (COIN), MercadoLibre (MELI), Iambic Therapeutics (IAM), GeneDx Holdings (WGS), Scribe Therapeutics (SCTX), AeroVironment (AVAV), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS), Joby Aviation (JOBY), and Intuitive Machines (LUNR).
Wood trimmed positions in Bullish (BLSH), Tempus AI (TEM), Eli Lilly (LLY), CoreWeave (CRWV), Teradyne (TER), Broadcom (AVGO), BYD (BYDDY), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), Spotify Technology (SPOT), Personalis (PSNL), CareDx (CDNA), Honeywell Aerospace (HONA), Garmin (GRMN), and HEICO (HEI).
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