It’s been a rocky start to the year for Cathie Wood, the head of Ark Investment Management.

As of Feb. 6, Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) was down 9.58% year to date, while the S&P 500 gained 1.27%, as pressure mounted on growth-focused tech stocks.

Wood actively manages her tech holdings, and her timing is often tied to market movements.

Last week, she invested heavily in one of the biggest names in technology before and after the company’s latest earnings report.

Wood gained 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% in the same period.

But her style also brings painful losses in bearish markets, as seen in 2022, when the Ark Innovation ETF tumbled more than 60%.

Those swings have weighed on Wood’s long-term results. As of Feb. 6, the Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -13.83%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 13.92% over the same period, according to data from Morningstar.

Cathie Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF was down 9.58% year to date.

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Cathie Wood rejects “AI bubble” again

Wood focuses on emerging high-tech companies across artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology, and robotics. She thinks these businesses have great growth potential, though 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’s analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the third-biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott’s ranking.

Related: Cathie Wood buys $1.9 million of megacap tech stock

In a letter published on Jan. 15, Wood says the U.S. economy is storing up energy for a sharp rebound in 2026.

“Despite sustained real gross domestic product growth during the past three years, the underlying U.S. economy has suffered a rolling recession and has evolved into a coiled spring that could bounce back powerfully during the next few years,” Wood wrote.

Wood also rejects the “AI bubble” talk, 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 said.

Not all investors agree with Wood’s optimism. In the 12 months through Feb. 5, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.3 billion in net outflows, according to ETF research firm VettaFi. 

Cathie Wood buys $43 million of Alphabet stock

On Feb. 2, 3, 5, and 6, Wood’s Ark funds bought a total of 134,439 class C shares of Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), valued at roughly $43.4 million, according to Ark’s daily trade information sent to TheStreet. This was one of her largest recent purchases.

Wood’s move came amid the Google parent company’s fourth-quarter earnings, reported on Feb. 4.

Related: Cathie Wood sends blunt 3-word message on stock outlook in 2026

Alphabet topped Wall Street’s expectations on both earnings and revenue for the quarter. Earnings came in at $2.82 per share, beating analysts’ estimate of $2.63, while revenue rose 18% to $113.83 billion, topping the $111.43 billion forecast, according to LSEG data pulled by CNBC.

Revenue at Google Cloud climbed to $17.66 billion, beating the $16.18 billion estimate and rising nearly 48% from a year ago, driven by demand for AI services.

Alphabet said it expects capital spending in 2026 to range from $175 billion to $185 billion, with the top end of that forecast being more than double its 2025 spend. This is “to meet customer demand and capitalize on the growing opportunities,” said Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

“We’re seeing our AI investments and infrastructure drive revenue and growth across the board,” Pichai said.

Bank of America analysts Justin Post and Nitin Bansal reiterated a buy rating and maintained a $370 price target for Alphabet stock following the earnings.

Top 10 holdings of the Ark Innovation ETF as of Feb. 6, 2026:

  • Tesla (TSLA) 11.30%
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) 5.66%
  • Tempus AI (TEM) 5.33%
  • Roku (ROKU) 5.04%
  • Shopify (SHOP) 4.10%
  • Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) 3.89%
  • Coinbase Global (COIN) 3.70%
  • Robinhood Markets (HOOD) 3.65%
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) 3.56%
  • Twist Bioscience (TWST) 3.33%

The firm said the result “increases confidence in AI benefits across Google’s businesses,” noting that search usage in Q4 was the highest ever.

“We continue to see opportunity for better monetization of zero-click searches that are being converted to AI Overviews as a key upside driver,” the analysts wrote in a research note sent to TheStreet.

“We also think rollout of agentic capabilities and monetization of the Gemini app with advertising are revenue catalysts ahead.”

Alphabet class C stock closed at $323.10 on Feb. 6.

Related: Goldman Sachs revamps Nvidia stock forecast ahead of earnings