Cathie Wooden doesn’t hand over on her favourite shares simply.
The top of Ark Funding Administration actively manages her tech holdings, and her timing usually hyperlinks to market actions.
Generally Wooden buys her prime holdings on the best way down, hoping for a discount. That’s what she simply did.
It’s been a weak begin to the yr for Wooden. As of Feb. 13, Wooden’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) was down 9.79% yr up to now, whereas the S&P 500 misplaced 0.14%, as stress mounted on growth-focused tech shares.
Wooden gained a repute after her Ark Innovation ETF delivered a 153% return in 2020. Final yr, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF gained 35.49%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s return of 17.88% in the identical interval.
However Wooden’s fashion additionally brings painful losses in bearish markets, as seen in 2022, when the Ark Innovation ETF tumbled greater than 60%.
These swings have weighed on Wooden’s long-term positive aspects. As of Feb. 13, the Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -14.67%, whereas the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 13.33% over the identical interval, in keeping with knowledge from Morningstar.
Within the 12 months by Feb. 11, the Ark Innovation ETF noticed roughly $1.4 billion in web outflows.
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Cathie Wooden rejects “AI bubble”
Wooden focuses on high-tech firms throughout synthetic intelligence, blockchain, biomedical know-how, and robotics. She thinks these companies have nice progress potential, although their volatility usually causes fluctuations within the Ark’s funds.
From 2014 to 2024, the Ark Innovation ETF worn out $7 billion in investor wealth, in keeping with an evaluation by Morningstar’s analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the third-biggest wealth destroyer amongst mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott’s rating. The analyst hasn’t up to date the 2025 rating.
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In a letter printed on Jan. 15, Wooden says the U.S. economic system is storing up power for a pointy rebound in 2026.
“Despite sustained real gross domestic product growth during the past three years, the underlying US economy has suffered a rolling recession and has evolved into a coiled spring that could bounce back powerfully during the next few years,” Wooden wrote.
Wooden additionally rejects the “AI bubble” discuss, saying it “is years away” and “the most powerful capital spending cycle in history” is coming.
“What once was the cap in spending seems to have become a floor now that the AI, robotics, energy storage, blockchain technology, and multiomics sequencing platforms are ready for prime time,” she mentioned.
Not all traders agree with Wooden’s optimism. Within the 12 months by Feb. 11, the Ark Innovation ETF noticed roughly $1.4 billion in web outflows, in keeping with ETF analysis agency VettaFi.
Cathie Wooden buys $46 million of Robinhood inventory
On Feb. 11 and 12, Wooden’s Ark funds purchased a complete of 608,483 shares of Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD), valued at about $46.2 million, Ark’s every day commerce info reveals. This was one among her largest current purchases.
Wooden’s transfer adopted Robinhood’s combined fourth quarter report on Feb. 10.
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The corporate posted earnings of 66 cents a share, topping the 60-cent consensus estimate, however income got here in at $1.28 billion, beneath Wall Avenue’s expectations of $1.34 billion, in keeping with knowledge from Investing.com.
Shares of Robinhood plunged 8.9% and eight.8% on Feb. 11 and 12, respectively.
Robinhood is thought for its commission-free buying and selling platform for traders to purchase and promote shares, in addition to crypto. It generates income by fee for order stream (PFOF), curiosity earned on buyer money balances, margin lending, and subscription companies.
Cryptocurrencies are a key a part of Robinhood’s income, accounting for greater than 17% of the entire income in This autumn.
The pullback in Bitcoin over the previous a number of months has weighed on Robinhood’s income in addition to its inventory efficiency.
Robinhood mentioned in a press launch that the This autumn income was “partially offset by cryptocurrencies revenue,” which dropped 38%.
“There has historically been a strong correlation between the value of Bitcoin and Robinhood’s stock performance,” David Jagielski wrote for The Motley Idiot.
Wooden had a robust curiosity in Robinhood after it went public in 2021. Nevertheless, she bought roughly 30 million Robinhood shares from Q1 2024 to This autumn 2025, in keeping with knowledge from Stockcircle.
As of Feb. 13, Robinhood is the seventh-largest holding of the Ark Innovation ETF, accounting for roughly 4%.
High 10 holdings of the Ark Innovation ETF as of Feb. 13, 2026:
- Tesla (TSLA) 11.53%
- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) 5.89%
- Tempus AI (TEM) 5.17%
- Roku (ROKU) 4.54%
- Shopify (SHOP) 4.31%
- Superior Micro Gadgets (AMD) 4.04%
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD) 3.99%
- Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) 3.78%
- Roblox (RBLX) 3.59%
- Coinbase World (COIN) 3.26%
Barclays lowered Robinhood’s inventory worth goal to $124 from $159 and retains an chubby ranking following the This autumn report, The Fly reported on Feb. 11.
The analyst mentioned Robinhood continues to be pursuing “ambitious” long-term targets, however warned {that a} current slowdown in web new asset progress may stress the inventory. Barclays additionally linked the weak This autumn outcomes to decrease take charges in choices and crypto, which diminished transaction income.
Robinhood inventory closed at $75.97 on Feb. 13 and is down 32.8% yr up to now.
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