Cathie Wood, chief of Ark Investment Management, often buys her favorite tech stocks when their prices fall. That’s what she’s doing with Meta Platforms (META), adding shares after the Facebook parent’s stock tumbled following its earnings report. 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 6.59% as of Oct. 23, while the S&P 500 surged 11.37%. 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. 23, her Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -6.83%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 10.9% 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). Related: Cathie Wood sells $16 million of surging tech stock “Investors deserve to understand both their returns and the decisions behind them,” Wood said in an Oct. 5 post on X. 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. In September, Wood reposted a post by David Sacks on X, saying he makes a good case that the “AI will kill humanity” headlines were orchestrated. Meanwhile, she 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.” Not all investors agree with Wood’s optimism. Over the past 12 months through Oct. 22, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.73 billion in net outflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi. Over the past 12 months, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.73 billion in net outflows. Getty Images Cathie Wood buys $24.5 million of Meta stock On Oct. 22, Wood’s Ark funds bought a total of 38,110 shares of Meta Platforms (META), according to Ark’s daily trading information sent to TheStreet. These shares were worth about $24.5 million based on the latest trading price of $642.62. Wood’s purchase came as Meta shares tumbled despite strong earnings. The social media giant reported third-quarter earnings on Oct. 21, beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations. But shares plunged 7% the following day and fell another 1% on Oct. 23, as investors grew concerned about the social media giant’s aggressive spending on artificial intelligence. Related: Cathie Wood buys $11.8 million of tumbling tech stock Meta posted third-quarter revenue of $64.6 billion, beating analysts’ expectations of $63.41 billion. Earnings came in at $3.83 per share, below the consensus estimate of $5.46, largely due to a $9.89 billion charge related to a settlement over teen mental health. Excluding that, Meta said earnings would have reached $7.40 per share. The company forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $73 billion to $76 billion, compared with Wall Street’s estimate of $73.75 billion. Meta also raised the lower end of its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $135 billion to $145 billion, up from $130 billion to $145 billion. It also increased its full-year expense outlook to $175 billion to $179 billion. “Our AI investments are already delivering substantial incremental advertising revenue through stronger engagement, better recommendations, and more efficient monetization,” the company said in a statement. Meta is pushing deeper into AI agents. In September, it launched Muse, a personal AI agent that can take actions on users’ behalf and help with daily tasks such as sending emails. The app has become one of the most popular personal AI agents since its debut. Citi analyst Ronald Josey raised his price target on Meta stock to $905 from $895 and maintained a Buy rating, citing Muse’s potential, according to a research note sent to TheStreet. “We are incrementally positive on shares of Meta following 3Q26 results as we believe Meta is entering into an AI product super-cycle with multiple monetization tailwinds,” Josey wrote. “Meta’s growing compute capacity gives it the ability to launch multiple new products and services and press its first-mover advantage across Personal Agents.” Josey pointed to strong early adoption of Muse, with 10 million users signing up and 25% returning daily. Shopping is the most common use case, which Citi believes could open up revenue opportunities through subscriptions, transaction fees, and enterprise services. The analyst also noted that time spent on Instagram and Facebook Reels reached all-time highs, helped by AI-powered content recommendations. “While 2027 remains an investment year (particularly as Muse ramps), we believe Meta’s AI products are well positioned,” Josey wrote. Wood had a similar bullish take on Meta. “For those of us who doubt that ‘old-world’ companies will thrive in the new world, Meta’s third quarter stats were impressive,” Wood said in an Oct.23 post on X. Wood has been actively buying Meta stock over the past few weeks after Meta’s September Muse launch. But Meta isn’t a top 10 holding in the Ark Innovation ETF yet. Top 10 holdings in the Ark Innovation ETF by market value and weight as of Oct. 23, 2026: Tesla (TSLA): $624.73 million (10.43%) SpaceX (SPCX): $386.74 million (6.46%) Circle Internet Group (CRCL): $314.19 million (5.25%) Tempus AI (TEM): $299.43 million (5.00%) OpenAI: $272.90 million (4.56%) Coinbase (COIN): $260.32 million (4.35%) CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP): $259.63 million (4.34%) Shopify (SHOP): $200.71 million (3.35%) Robinhood Markets (HOOD): $184.30 million (3.08%) Nvidia (NVDA): $182.70 million (3.05%) Other than buying Meta shares, Wood bought shares of Netflix (NFLX), Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB), Freenome (FRNM), and Scribe Therapeutics (SCTX). She also sold shares of Shopify (SHOP), Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Cloudflare (NET), Alphabet (GOOG), Rubrik (RBRK), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Block (XYZ), Roblox (RBLX), Everpure (P), and Circle Internet Group (CRCL). Related: Another AI power stock plunges 11% despite earnings beat
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