Cathie Wood buys $18.5 million of popular AI stock
Cathie Wood buys $18.5 million of popular AI stock originally appeared on TheStreet.
Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment, often buys tech stocks she believes will have a disruptive impact on the future. Sometimes she chases stocks at high prices, believing their long-term potential outweighs short-term volatility.
This is what she just did, adding shares of a popular AI stock nearing an all-time high on June 16.
Wood’s funds have experienced a volatile ride this year, swinging from strong gains to sharp losses and now back to outperforming the broader market.
In January and February, the Ark funds rallied as investors bet on the Trump administration’s potential deregulation that could benefit Wood’s tech bets. But the momentum faded in March and April, with the funds trailing the market as top holdings—especially Tesla, her biggest position —slid amid growing concerns over the macroeconomy and trade policies.
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Now, the fund is regaining momentum. As of June 18, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is up 15.9% year-to-date, outpacing the S&P 500’s 1.9% gain.
Wood had a remarkable gain of 153% in 2020, which helped build her reputation and attract loyal investors. Her strategy can lead to sharp gains during bull markets, but also painful losses, like in 2022 when ARKK dropped more than 60%.
As of June 17, Ark Innovation ETF, with $5.5 billion under management, has delivered a five-year annualized return of negative 0.3%. The S&P 500 has an annualized return of 15.7% over the same period.
Wood’s investment strategy is straightforward: Her Ark ETFs typically buy shares in emerging high-tech companies in fields such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology, and robotics.
Wood says these companies have the potential to reshape industries, but their volatility leads to major fluctuations in Ark funds’ values.
Related: Cathie Wood’s net worth: The Ark Invest CEO’s wealth & income
The Ark Innovation ETF wiped out $7 billion in investor wealth over the 10 years ending in 2024, according to an analysis by Morningstar’s analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the third-biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott’s ranking.
Wood recently said the U.S. is coming out of a three-year “rolling recession” and heading into a productivity-led recovery that could trigger a broader bull market.
In a letter to investors published in late April, she dismissed predictions of a recession dragging into 2026, as she expects “more clarity on tariffs, taxes, regulations, and interest rates over the next three to six months.”
“If the current tariff turmoil results in freer trade, as tariffs and non-tariff barriers come down in tandem with declines in other taxes, regulations, and interest rates, then real GDP growth and productivity should surprise on the high side of expectations at some point during the second half of this year,” she wrote.
She also struck an optimistic tone for tech stocks.
“During the current turbulent transition in the US, we think consumers and businesses are likely to accelerate the shift to technologically enabled innovation platforms including artificial intelligence, robotics, energy storage, blockchain technology, and multiomics sequencing,” she said.
Not all investors share this optimism. Over the past year, the Ark Innovation ETF saw $2.4 billion in net outflows, with $275 million exiting the fund in just the past five days, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.
On June 16, Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF bought 128,163 shares of Nvidia (NVDA) . That chunk of stock was valued at roughly $18.5 million.
Wood had previously sold all her Nvidia stake in 2022. She started buying Nvidia stock in early April amid a brutal sell-off caused by tariff tensions and tightened export restrictions on advanced chips.
Related: Cathie Wood sells $9.5 million of popular AI stocks after big rally
Since then, Wood has been gradually adding Nvidia shares as the stock rebounded after the U.S. and China agreed to temporarily slash tariffs on each other. Optimism also grew after the Trump administration scrapped the Biden-era AI diffusion rule, another export control on advanced AI chips.
On May 28, Nvidia reported strong fiscal first-quarter results. Adjusted earnings of 96 cents per share on $44.06 billion in revenue for its fiscal first quarter surpassed Wall Street’s expectations of 93 cents and $43.31 billion.
However, the company forecasts revenue of $45 billion in the July quarter, missing analysts’ projections by nearly $1 billion. The chipmaker noted that the figure would have been roughly $8 billion higher without the China export curbs.
The war of technology is continuing. According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Commerce Department officials are considering new restrictions on advanced technology exports to China, including more limits on chip-making equipment sales.
China remains a key market for Nvidia, accounting for 13% of its sales in the past financial year. If the world’s two largest economies fail to reach a trade deal, it could hit Nvidia’s bottom line.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang has long warned that export controls could hurt U.S. chipmakers and even threaten the country’s position as the global leader in technology.
“If we want the American technology stack to win around the world, then giving up 50% of the world’s AI researchers is not sensible,” Huang recently said on CNBC. “So long as all the AI developers are in China, you know, I think [the] China stack is going to win.”
More Nvidia:
Nvidia closed at $145.48 on June 18, up 8.3% year-to-date and just 2.7% below its all-time high of $149.41 posted in January.
According to TipRanks, Wall Street’s average price target on Nvidia stock is $173.19, which implies an upside of 19% as analysts remain bullish on the company’s AI-driven growth.
Related: Top analyst sends bold message on S&P 500
Cathie Wood buys $18.5 million of popular AI stock first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 19, 2025
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.