Cathie Wood buys $11 million of surging AI stock
Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, is known for making bold bets on tech stocks she believes will shape the future.
She buys even as stock prices surge, betting that long-term gains will overcome short-term volatility. This is what she just did, adding shares of a popular AI stock that has surged more than 9% in the past five days.
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Wood's funds have experienced a volatile ride this year, swinging from sharp losses to strong gains.
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.
Now, the fund is regaining momentum. As of July 31, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF () is up more than 30% year-to-date, far outpacing the S&P 500's 7.8% gain.
Wood's remarkable return of 153% in 2020 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 July 30, Ark Innovation ETF, with $6.8 billion under management, has delivered a five-year annualized return of negative 0.72%. The S&P 500 has an annualized return of 16.14% over the same period.
Cathie Wood's investment strategy explained
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.
She says these companies have the potential to reshape industries, but their volatility leads to major fluctuations in Ark funds' values.Over the 10 years ending in 2024, the Ark Innovation ETF wiped out $7 billion in investor wealth, according to an analysis by Morningstar's analyst Amy Arnott. That made the ETF the third-biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott's ranking.
Still, Wood has been bullish on the market. In a letter to investors published in late April, she dismissed predictions of a recession dragging into 2026 and struck an optimistic tone for tech stocks.
"During the current turbulent transition in the U.S., 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 12 months through July 30, the Ark Innovation ETF saw $1.8 billion in net outflows, with nearly $20 million exiting the fund in the past month, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.
Cathie Wood buys $11 million of AMD stock
Wood has been picking up Advanced Micro Devices () stock recently, with the Ark funds buying 28,506 shares worth about $5 million this week and 32,846 shares valued at $5.8 million last week.
She had sold about 121,000 AMD shares in the first quarter of 2024 (then 38.9% of her total stake) when the stock was riding high. Since then, as the stock has dropped, she's been rebuilding her position, according to data from Stockcircle.Wood's purchase came as the stock hit a 52-week high of $182.31 on July 29, rebounding from a low of $76.48 in April. The chipmaker is gaining momentum in the AI race after trailing Nvidia () for several months.
AMD is raising the price of its Instinct MI350 AI accelerator to $25,000 from $15,000, according to Wccftech's recent report citing HSBC's analyst note.
The nearly 70% increase in MI350's price could mean a notable growth in AMD's future revenue. The price increase indicates that AMD is seeing demand for its AI products, the report said.
In June, AMD's CEO Lisa Su said at a developer conference that the MI350 series is faster than Nvidia's. Meanwhile, the MI350 is cheaper than its counterpart product from Nvidia's Blackwell B200, Wccftech reported.
AMD is set to report its second-quarter earnings on August 5. Three months ago, the company reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results and gave a solid forecast for the second quarter, even as it faced challenges from the broader economy and export curbs on chip sales to China.
'While we face some headwinds from the dynamic macro and regulatory environments...we believe they are more than offset by the powerful tailwinds from our leadership product portfolio,' AMD's CEO Lisa Su said in May.
Several analysts are more optimistic and believe AMD may deliver stronger results than expected.
Bank of America has raised its price target on AMD to $200 from $175, maintaining a buy rating ahead of the earnings report, according to a research note published on July 29.
The firm sees upside supported by solid demand for CPU and GPU, stronger pricing for AI chips, and a robust cloud capex environment, analyst Vivek Arya wrote.
AMD is now the 11th holding of the ARK Innovation ETF, according to stockanalysis.com. The stock closed at $176.92 on July 31 and is up 46.4% year-to-date.Cathie Wood buys $11 million of surging AI stock first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 1, 2025
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
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