Cathie Wood does not give up her favorite stocks easily.
The head of Ark Investment Management actively manages her technology holdings, and her timing is often tied to market movements.
Sometimes Wood buys his top holdings on the way down, hoping for a bargain. That’s what she just did.
It’s been a poor start to the year for Wood. Since Feb. 13, Wood’s flagship ETF, the Ark Innovation ETF ( ARKK ), is down 9.79% year to date, while the S&P 500 has lost 0.14% as pressure has mounted on growth-focused tech stocks.
Wood earned a reputation after the Ark Innovation ETF delivered a 153% return in 2020. Last year, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF gained 35.49%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s return of 17.88% over the same period.
But Wood’s style also brings painful losses in bear markets, as seen in 2022 when the Ark Innovation ETF fell more than 60%.
These swings hurt Wood’s long-term earnings. As of February 13, the Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -14.67%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 13.33% over the same period, according to Morningstar data.
In the 12 months to February 11, the Ark Innovation ETF saw net outflows of about $1.4 billion. Getty Images ·Getty Images
Wood focuses on high-tech companies in artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology and robotics. She believes these businesses have great growth potential, although their volatility often causes fluctuations in the Ark’s funds.
From 2014 to 2024, the Ark Innovation ETF wiped out $7 billion in investor wealth, according to an analysis by Morningstar analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the third biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott’s ranking. The analyst has not updated the ranking since 2025.
Related: Cathie Wood buys $43 million in tech megacap stock
In a letter published on January 15, Wood says the US economy is storing energy for a sharp rebound in 2026.
“Despite sustained growth in real gross domestic product over the past three years, the core U.S. economy has been in a continuing recession and spiraling upward that could rebound strongly in the next few years,” Wood wrote.
Wood also dismisses the “AI bubble” talk, saying “it’s years away” and “the strongest capital spending cycle in history” is ahead.
“What was once a spending cap seems to have become a floor now as AI, robotics, energy storage, blockchain technology and multi-omics sequencing platforms are ready for prime time,” she said.
Not all investors agree with Wood’s optimism. In the 12 months to Feb. 11, the Ark Innovation ETF saw net outflows of about $1.4 billion, according to ETF research firm VettaFi.
On February 11 and 12, Wood’s Ark funds bought a total of 608,483 shares of Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD), valued at about $46.2 million, Ark’s daily trading information shows. This was one of the biggest recent acquisitions.
Wood’s move followed Robinhood’s mixed fourth-quarter report on Feb. 10.
Related: Cathie Wood sends clear 3-word message on stock outlook in 2026
The company posted earnings of 66 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate of 60 cents, but revenue came in at $1.28 billion, missing Wall Street expectations of $1.34 billion, according to data from Investing.com.
Robinhood shares fell 8.9% and 8.8% on February 11 and 12, respectively.
Robinhood is known for its commission-free trading platform for investors to buy and sell stocks as well as crypto. It generates revenue through payment for order flow (PFOF), interest earned on customer cash balances, margin lending and subscription services.
Cryptocurrencies are a key part of Robinhood’s revenue, accounting for more than 17% of total revenue in Q4.
Bitcoin’s pullback over the past few months has hurt Robinhood’s revenue as well as its stock performance.
Robinhood said in a press release that Q4 revenue was “partially offset by cryptocurrency revenue,” which fell 38 percent.
“In the past, there has been a strong correlation between Bitcoin’s value and Robinhood’s stock performance,” David Jagielski wrote for The Motley Fool.
Wood had a strong interest in Robinhood after it went public in 2021. However, she sold about 30 million Robinhood shares from Q1 2024 to Q4 2025, according to data from Stockcircle.
As of February 13, Robinhood is the Ark Innovation ETF’s seventh-largest holding, accounting for about 4%.
Tesla (TSLA) 11.53%
CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) 5.89%
Tempus AI (TEM) 5.17%
Year (ROKU) 4.54%
Shopify (COMMON) 4.31%
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) 4.04%
Robinhood Markets (HOOD) 3.99%
Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) 3.78%
Roblox (RBLX) 3.59%
Coinbase Global (COIN) 3.26%
Barclays lowered its price target on Robinhood shares to $124 from $159 and maintains an overweight rating following its fourth-quarter report, The Fly reported on February 11.
The analyst said Robinhood was still pursuing “ambitious” long-term goals, but warned that a recent slowdown in net new asset growth could pressure the stock. Barclays also linked weak Q4 results to lower take-up rates in options and crypto, which reduced trading revenue.
Robinhood shares closed at $75.97 on February 13 and are down 32.8% year to date.
Related: Veteran trader makes stunning call on Palantir amid software crisis
This story was originally published by TheStreet on February 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Investing section. Add TheStreet as a favorite source by clicking here.
