Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, is known for betting on disruptive technology companies, and investors closely watch every move she makes.
Sometimes, she’ll even buy tech stocks on the way up — and that’s what she just did, adding shares of a tech company that’s rallied 5% over the past week.
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. So far this year, Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is up 5.11% year to date, while the S&P 500 surged 9.32% as of July 1, Yahoo Finance data shows.
Wood gained a reputation after the Ark Innovation ETF delivered a 153% return in 2020. 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 gains. As of July 1, the Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -8.57%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 11.61% over the same period, according to data from Morningstar.
Cathie Wood flags ‘the deflationary impact’ of tech innovation
Wood 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 her ranking.
Related: Bank of America answers a tough stock market question
Wood believes investors have been focusing on the wrong signals as they assess the outlook for inflation, interest rates, and stocks.
In a June 5 post on X, Wood said the bond market is increasingly reflecting the deflationary impact of technological innovation, particularly artificial intelligence, rather than the inflation risks many investors still fear.
Wood pointed to the continued flattening of the Treasury yield curve despite a sharp rise in oil prices over the past year. In previous cycles, she noted, an energy shock of that magnitude would have pushed long-term yields higher.
Wood believes the bond market is “discounting something much more powerful: the deflationary impact of technological innovation, particularly artificial intelligence, which is beginning to increase productivity across broad swaths of the economy. ”
She also said easing tensions with Iran and a decline in oil prices could push inflation even lower.
“The next phase of this cycle could be characterized by accelerating growth, declining inflation, falling interest rates, and a strengthening U.S. dollar,” Wood said. “That combination would create a remarkably supportive backdrop for innovation-led equities and the technologies driving the next productivity boom.”
Not all investors agree with Wood’s optimism. Over the past 12 months through June 30, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.39 billion in net outflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.
Over the past 12 months through June 30, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.39 billion in net outflows.
Cathie Wood buys $5.5M of SoFi stock
On June 29, 30 and July 1, Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF bought 299,753 shares of SoFi Technologies (SOFI), according to Ark’s daily trade information. These shares are valued at approximately $5.5 million based on July 1’s closing price of $18.44.
The buy marked a reversal from earlier this month, when Wood sold 114,664 shares of SoFi on June 15.
SoFi is a fintech company that operates as a neobank, providing lending, financial technology solutions, and other financial services.
SoFi stock is up 5.23% in the past five days. However, year to date, the stock has plunged roughly 30%, much underperforming the S&P 500 index.
In April, the company reported first-quarter revenue that topped expectations, with revenue rising 41% year over year. However, its Technology Platform segment saw a 27% revenue decline due to a major client transitioning off the platform.
More Cathie Wood:
- Cathie Wood buys $11.5 million of battered tech stock
- Cathie Wood buys $9.6 million of megacap tech stock
- Cathie Wood sells $8.7 million of tumbling AI stock
On June 23, SoFi announced “Composer by SoFi,” an AI-powered investing platform that it said could help investors quickly turn investment ideas into automated execution. Investors can also browse community-built strategies or build diversified portfolios based on different market views.
“Composer by SoFi helps investors turn investment ideas into fully functioning strategies in minutes. These strategies can be tested against historical data and automatically executed according to predefined rules selected by the investor,” SoFi said in a statement.
Fintech companies have been increasingly embracing AI to enhance investing and trading tools. For example, Robinhood (HOOD) has rolled out AI-powered features, including Cortex, while Coinbase (COIN) has just expanded capabilities across its platform, including tokenized stocks, AI-powered investment tools, and stock portfolio transfers.
Bank of America said in a May research note that AI is moving beyond hype and “translating from concept to tangible impact in financial services.”
“Unlike prior tech innovations, AI represents a fundamental shift in how work is performed, with meaningful implications for productivity, revenues, and competitive positioning across banks,” the firm wrote.
The firm added that while large banks still benefit from proprietary customer data, AI is lowering barriers for smaller institutions by giving them access to global intelligence and virtual AI agents, helping narrow the competitive gap.
Wood has long been bullish on Fintech. Besides SoFi, she also invests heavily in Robinhood and Coinbase.
SoFi is not a top 10 holding in the Ark Innovation ETF.
Top 10 holdings of the Ark Innovation ETF as of July 2, 2026:
- Tesla Inc. (TSLA) – 10.18%
- Tempus AI Inc. (TEM) – 5.86%
- CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP) – 4.90%
- Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD) – 4.84%
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) – 4.58%
- Shopify Inc. (SHOP) – 4.40%
- Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) – 4.08%
- Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) – 3.83%
- Twist Bioscience Corp. (TWST) – 3.71%
- Roblox Corp. (RBLX) – 3.47%
Other than buying SoFi shares, Wood’s latest trades included adding shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL), X-Energy (XE), Snowflake (SNOW), Bullish (BLSH), Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX), Alamar Biosciences (ALMR), and Generate Biomedicines (GENB).
She also trimmed holdings in Alibaba (BABA), Roku (ROKU), Veracyte (VCYT), Twist Bioscience (TWST), Absci (ABSI), and Strata Critical Medical (SRTA).