Cathie Wood buys $14.1 million of megacap tech stock

Cathie Wood, chief of Ark Investment Management, often trades during earnings season.This time, the timing worked. She picked up shares of a megacap tech company just before results, and the stock has since surged following the report.In 2025, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF gained 35.49%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s return of 17.88% in the same period. But so far this year, Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is down 5.57%, while the S&P 500 surged 4.24%, Yahoo Finance data show.Wood gained a reputation after the Ark Innovation ETF delivered a 153% return in 2020. However, 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 gains. As of April 29, the Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -9.44%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 12.75% over the same period, according to data from Morningstar.Cathie Wood expects “great acceleration” brought by tech developmentsWood focuses on high-tech companies across artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology, and robotics. She thinks these businesses have strong growth potential, though their volatility often causes fluctuations in the Ark’s funds.According to Morningstar analyst Bella Albrecht, two of Wood’s Ark funds were among the worst-performing ETFs in the first quarter of 2026.

The Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) ranked second on the list, while the ARK Innovation ETF placed fifth.From 2014 to 2024, the Ark Innovation ETF wiped out $7 billion in investor wealth, according to a March 2025 analysis by Morningstar’s analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the third-biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott’s ranking. The analyst hasn’t updated the 2025 ranking.In a March Bloomberg podcast, Wood says the global economy is not heading into a downturn, but into what she calls a “great acceleration” driven by AI and other breakthrough technologies.Related: Cathie Wood sells $75M of surging semiconductor stock“We’re not going into the Great Depression, we’re going into the great acceleration,” Wood said, pointing to how past technological revolutions reshaped economic growth.She noted that global real GDP growth averaged just 0.6% between 1500 and 1900, before the Industrial Revolution lifted it to around 3% for more than a century. Now, she argues, a new wave of innovation could push growth much higher.“We think [technologies] are going to take growth into the 7 to 8% range,” Wood said, adding that the number may actually be conservative.Wood also noted that AI is driving down costs across industries.“These technologies are deflationary,” she said. “AI training costs are dropping 75% per year, and inference costs are falling as much as 85% to even 98% annually.”Some investors appear to agree with Wood’s optimism. From April 23 to April 28, the ARK Innovation ETF saw roughly $211.63 million in net inflows, with one-month net inflows reaching $376.85 million, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi. From April 23 to April 28, the ARK Innovation ETF saw roughly $211.63 million in net inflows.Getty Images Cathie Wood buys $14.1 million of Alphabet stockOn April 28, Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF bought 40,656 Class C shares of Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), according to Ark’s daily trade information. These shares are valued at approximately $14.1 million based on the latest closing price of $347.31. The Google parent reported first-quarter earnings on April 29. Earnings per share came at $5.11, well above analyst estimates of $2.62. Revenue rose 20% from last year to $109.9 billion, topping Wall Street expectations of $106.79 billion.Related: Stanley Druckenmiller dumps SanDisk and buys surging energy stockAs of writing, shares of Alphabet were up about 7% in after-hours trading following the results.Alphabet's cloud business continued to gain momentum. Google Cloud brought in $20.02 billion in revenue, ahead of the $18.05 billion analysts had been expecting, according to CNBC.“Our enterprise AI solutions have become our primary growth driver for cloud for the first time in Q1,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in the earnings call. Alphabet lifted its 2026 capital spending forecast to $180 billion to $190 billion, up from its earlier $175 billion to $185 billion range. CFO Anat Ashkenazi also said 2027 spending is expected to “significantly increase” from 2026.In a letter published in January, Wood said AI is bringing "the most powerful capital spending cycle in history."More AI:Micron sits at the center of a red-hot chip rallyIBM CEO sends blunt message on AI and quantum computingAnthropic CEO makes shocking admission about AI"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.Citi analysts led by Ronald Josey reiterated a buy rating and a $405 price target on Alphabet shares following the earnings, according to a research note sent to TheStreet."Given Google Cloud revenue growth is reaccelerating on TPU (Google's custom-designed AI accelerators) and Gemini demand... we believe the shares warrant a premium to the market and to Alphabet’s historical multiple," the analysts wrote.Alphabet is not a top 10 holding in the Ark Innovation ETF.Top 10 holdings of the Ark Innovation ETF as of April 29, 2026:Tesla Inc. (TSLA) 9.54%Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) 5.17%CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP) 4.93%Tempus AI Inc. (TEM) 4.91%Shopify Inc. (SHOP) 4.39%Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) 4.35%Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD) 4.23%Roku Inc. (ROKU) 4.15%Circle Internet Group Inc. (CRCL) 3.97%Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) 3.16%Other than buying Alphabet shares, Wood’s recent moves include buying CoreWeave (CRWV), Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS), Spotify Technology SA (SPOT), and Robinhood Markets (HOOD), while selling Bullish (BLSH), Roku (ROKU), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and Twist Bioscience (TWST).Related: Morgan Stanley has blunt message for stock market investors