Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, is known for making big bets on disruptive tech stocks. Sometimes, she’ll buy when these stocks are already rising.
That’s what she just did with Meta Platforms (META), buying shares after the social media giant surged about 17% over the past month.
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 14.80% as of writing, while the S&P 500 surged 13.97%, 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 Oct. 6, her Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -3.66%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 12.37% 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).
“I welcome the question. Investors deserve to understand both their returns and the decisions behind them,” Wood said in a post on X (the former Twitter) on Oct. 5.
Related: Cathie Wood buys $81.5 million of surging semiconductor stock
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 recent fears that AI could pose an existential threat to humanity.
On Sept. 12, Wood reposted an X post from David Sacks, saying that he made 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 Oct. 5, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $2.3 billion in net inflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.
Cathie Wood buys $7.8 million of Meta stock
On Oct. 6, Wood’s Ark funds bought a total of 10,789 shares of Meta Platforms (META), according to Ark’s daily trading information sent to TheStreet. These shares were worth about $7.8 million based on the latest trading price of $724.97.
The social media giant is pushing deeper into AI agents. In September, it launched Muse, a personal AI agent. The app has now become one of the most popular personal AI agents since its debut, climbing to the top of Apple’s App Store ahead of ChatGPT, CNBC noted.
Related: Qualcomm CFO says look beyond the Apple deal
Meta described Muse as a “widely available personal AI agent” designed for everyday users that can take actions on their behalf and help with daily tasks.
“It can handle tasks, like sending an email or booking travel, and it can take on big, audacious goals,” Meta said in a statement.
After rolling out Muse, Meta is also working with companies such as Walmart and Stripe to bring AI agents further into the business world. The group is developing a “personal agent protocol,” an open standard that defines how AI agents interact with businesses, CNBC reported.
However, Amazon (AMZN) has blocked Meta’s agents over concerns about website scraping.
Shares of Meta have gained more than 17% over the past month as of writing. Still, Meta shares are up 9.8% year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 index.
Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski recently raised the firm’s price target on Meta Platforms to $1,000 from $796 and kept an Overweight rating on the stock.
The analyst said the enthusiasm around the Muse product cycle was “warranted,” according to The Fly’s reporting on Oct. 6, StockTwits noted.
However, Wells Fargo expects Meta’s third-quarter earnings call to offer some caution for investors who are expecting Muse to make a financial contribution in 2027.
Gawrelski also expects Wall Street’s 2027 EPS to likely fall due to higher operating expenses.
Meta 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 Oct. 7, 2026:
- Tesla (TSLA) – 9.59%, $903.5 million
- SpaceX (SPCX) – 6.94%, $653.8 million
- Tempus AI (TEM) – 5.10%, $480.7 million
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL) – 4.61%, $434.3 million
- Coinbase Global (COIN) – 4.32%, $407.0 million
- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) – 4.28%, $403.3 million
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD) – 3.74%, $351.9 million
- Twist Bioscience (TWST) – 3.61%, $340.5 million
- Shopify (SHOP) – 3.54%, $333.0 million
- Nvidia (NVDA) – 3.11%, $293.0 million
Other than buying Meta shares, Wood’s latest trades included buying Archer Aviation (ACHR), CoreWeave (CRWV), Kratos Defense (KTOS), Symbotic (SYM), Joby Aviation (JOBY), Aurora Innovation (AUR), AeroVironment (AVAV), Amazon (AMZN), Block (XYZ), and Veracyte (VCYT).
She also sold shares of Robinhood (HOOD), SpaceX (SPCX), Teradyne (TER), Tempus AI (TEM), 10x Genomics (TXG), Twist Bioscience (TWST), DraftKings (DKNG), and Personalis (PSNL).
Related: Cathie Wood buys $19.2 million of tumbling AI stock
