Cathie Wooden, head of Ark Funding Administration, tends to trim positions after massive runs and add on pullbacks, a method she applies not solely to smaller bets but in addition to her prime holdings.
Final week, Wooden unloaded some Tesla shares, securing $40 million in positive factors. She not too long ago did some notable shopping for of one other prime holding of Ark that’s been struggling.
Wooden gained a repute after the Ark Innovation ETF delivered a 153% return in 2020. Yr to this point, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is up 39.39% as of Dec. 19, far outpacing the S&P 500’s acquire of 16.2% in the identical interval.
Wooden’s type brings candy wins in rising markets but in addition painful losses in bearish ones, as seen in 2022, when the Ark Innovation ETF tumbled greater than 60%.
These swings have weighed on Wooden’s long-term outcomes. As of Dec. 18, the Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -8.72%, whereas the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 14.48% over the identical interval, in accordance with knowledge from Morningstar.
Within the 12 months by Dec. 18, the Ark Innovation ETF noticed roughly $1.28 billion in internet outflows.
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Cathie Wooden rejects “AI bubble”
Wooden’s technique is straightforward: her Ark ETFs deal with rising high-tech corporations in areas like synthetic intelligence, blockchain, biomedical know-how, and robotics.
Wooden views these companies as potential forces for giant adjustments and long-term progress, although their volatility usually brings fluctuations to the Ark’s funds.
Associated: Cathie Wooden’s internet price: The Ark Make investments CEO’s wealth & earnings
From 2014 to 2024, the Ark Innovation ETF worn out $7 billion in investor wealth, in accordance with Morningstar analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the third-biggest wealth destroyer amongst mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott’s rating.
In October, Wooden mentioned in a CNBC interview that she expects to see a market “shudder” as rates of interest start to rise.
Nonetheless, Wooden believes within the potential of AI, denying the “AI bubble” discuss amid issues concerning the excessive valuations of tech shares.
“I do not believe AI is in a bubble,” Wooden mentioned. “ What I do think is, on the enterprise side, it is going to take a while for large corporations to prepare themselves to transform…in order to really capitalize on the productivity gains that we think are going to be unleashed by AI.”
Not all traders agree with Wooden. Within the 12 months by Dec. 18, the Ark Innovation ETF noticed roughly $1.28 billion in internet outflows, in accordance with ETF analysis agency VettaFi.
Cathie Wooden buys $26.1 million of Coinbase inventory
On Dec. 15, 17, and 18, Wooden’s Ark funds purchased 106,530 shares of Coinbase World Inc. (COIN), valued at about $26.1 million.
The purchases lengthen a gradual construct that started in mid-November.
Earlier this yr, Wooden purchased roughly 34,500 Coinbase shares in the course of the first quarter, then bought roughly 446,000 shares and one other 228,000 within the following two quarters, in accordance with Stockcircle’s knowledge.
In 2024, Wooden unloaded a complete of about 5.5 million Coinbase shares throughout the yr, making it a full yr of internet promoting.
Regardless of these promoting, Coinbase is Wooden’s fourth-largest holding of the Ark Innovation ETF.
Prime 10 holdings of the Ark Innovation ETF as of Dec. 19, 2025:
- Tesla (TSLA) 12.32%
- Roku (ROKU) 5.89%
- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) 5.47%
- Coinbase World (COIN) 5.28%
- Shopify (SHOP) 5.27%
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD) 4.48%
- Tempus AI (TEM) 4.44%
- Palantir Applied sciences (PLTR) 3.90%
- Roblox (RBLX) 3.54%
- Superior Micro Units (AMD) 3.22%
Coinbase runs the most important crypto alternate within the U.S. and generates income by transaction charges from cryptocurrency buying and selling on its platform.
Coinbase’s inventory worth is carefully tied to the value of Bitcoin. When Bitcoin rises, buying and selling exercise often picks up, which helps Coinbase by larger transaction income and higher sentiment towards crypto shares. When it falls, buying and selling slows and Coinbase shares might face stress.
Yr to this point, Coinbase inventory is down 3%, whereas Bitcoin misplaced 5.6%, considerably underperforming the S&P 500 index, which gained greater than 16% over the identical interval.
On Dec. 17, Coinbase introduced that it’s going to roll out inventory buying and selling to U.S. customers, permitting prospects to commerce shares and ETFs alongside crypto inside the identical app, which reduces its reliance on crypto buying and selling and positions it as a direct rival to brokerages comparable to Robinhood (HOOD).
Cantor Fitzgerald lowered its worth goal on Coinbase to $320 from $459 whereas preserving an chubby ranking following the announcement, Thefly reported.
The agency mentioned Coinbase’s replace highlighted its push to change into an “everything exchange,” which is strategically constructive. However near-term income and profitability estimates are being lowered because of latest crypto sentiment declines.
The agency additionally warned that the 2026 consensus assumption for 14% buying and selling quantity progress could possibly be overly optimistic if the market enters one other crypto winter.
On Bitcoin, Wooden says Bitcoin’s four-year cycle, which implies mining rewards are lower roughly each 4 years, could now not be efficient, and we could have already seen the bottom level of this cycle.
“The volatility’s going down,” she mentioned on Fox Enterprise on Dec. 9, including that establishments “are going to prevent much more of a decline” and that “we may have seen the low a couple of weeks ago.”
Wooden additionally argues that the market’s conduct has shifted, as Bitcoin trades extra like a risk-on asset, transferring in keeping with equities and actual property reasonably than performing as a hedge.
“Now, gold is more of a risk-off asset,” she mentioned.
Associated: Cathie Wooden sells $40 million of megacap tech inventory
