Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, often sees falling stock prices as an opportunity to add to her favorite technology investments.
Sometimes, she buys shares on the way down, hoping to pick them up at a bargain. That’s what she did this week with Palantir Technologies (PLTR), adding shares after the AI software company’s stock dropped following its third-quarter earnings report.
Last year, her 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 4.45% as of writing, while the S&P 500 surged 12.63%, Yahoo Finance data shows.
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 Nov. 3, her Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -8.26%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 10.18% 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 buys $9.1 million of tumbling tech stock
“Investors deserve to understand both their returns and the decisions behind them,” Wood said in a post on X on Oct. 5.
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 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.
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 Nov. 2, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.41 billion in net outflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.
Wood has been active in trading Palantir stock.
Cathie Wood buys $10.9 million of Palantir stock
On Nov. 3, Wood’s Ark funds bought a total of 63,638 shares of Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR), according to Ark’s daily trading information sent to TheStreet. These shares were worth about $10.9 million based on the latest trading price of $171.74.
Palantir has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Wall Street’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, with investors betting that demand for its software will continue to accelerate. The stock soared 340% in 2024 and 135% in 2025. But so far this year, its shares have dropped roughly 3%, underperforming the S&P 500 index.
The company has built its reputation on government and defense contracts, but its commercial business is becoming another growth driver as more companies turn to AI to improve their operations.
On Nov. 2, Palantir reported third-quarter results that topped analysts’ expectations on both earnings and revenue.
Related: Cathie Wood buys $11.2 million of popular AI stock
The company earned an adjusted 44 cents per share, beating the 41 cents expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG. Revenue surged 96% from a year earlier to $2.31 billion, ahead of the $2.18 billion consensus estimate.
The biggest development came from Palantir’s U.S. commercial business, which generated $984 million in revenue, up 148% from a year earlier. For the first time, that figure exceeded U.S. government revenue, which rose 96% to $953 million.
“I don’t believe anyone’s had consistent results like this in the history of software AI, ever,” CEO Alex Karp said in a CNBC interview following the earnings release.
Palantir also raised its financial outlook, now expecting full-year 2026 revenue of $8.530 billion to $8.534 billion, above Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $8.22 billion.
Despite the strong results, Palantir shares dropped 1.65% on Nov. 3 and fell another 2% on Nov. 4, likely suggesting investors had already priced in much of the company’s growth.
Still, Wall Street became more optimistic about the stock following the report.
Piper Sandler raised its price target on Palantir to $235 from $231 and maintained an Overweight rating, pointing to the company’s strong commercial growth, The Fly reported.
The firm said U.S. commercial revenue surpassing government revenue marked a major milestone for Palantir. Still, Piper Sandler flagged a slowdown in U.S. commercial bookings, with total contract value rising just 11%. The firm believes shorter contract duration explains the weaker growth rather than a slowdown in demand, which it says continues to exceed supply.
Morgan Stanley analyst Sanjit Singh also raised his price target to $233 from $205 but kept an Equal Weight rating.
Singh said Palantir’s 13th consecutive quarter of accelerating revenue growth was “impressive.” However, he noted that investors had expected even stronger U.S. commercial results, while slower bookings growth weighed on the stock’s reaction.
Barclays was more bullish on Palantir’s share price, raising its target to $273 from $265. The analyst said concerns around bookings are overblown.
Wood has been active in trading Palantir stock over the past few years. She greatly increased her position in 2024 and sold many of those shares in 2025 as the stock climbed. This year, she bought back some shares in June and sold more in August, September and October. Now she’s buying again.
Palantir is not among the top 10 holdings in the Ark Innovation ETF.
Top 10 Holdings in the Ark Innovation ETF by weight and market value as of Nov. 3, 2026:
- Tesla (TSLA): 11.62%, $682.24 million
- Tempus AI (TEM): 6.35%, $372.82 million
- SpaceX (SPCX): 6.29%, $369.09 million
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL): 4.60%, $270.33 million
- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP): 4.48%, $263.00 million
- OpenAI: 4.25%, $249.37 million
- Coinbase Global (COIN): 3.76%, $221.03 million
- Shopify (SHOP): 3.15%, $185.13 million
- Nvidia (NVDA): 3.00%, $176.21 million
- Twist Bioscience (TWST): 2.95%, $173.19 million
Other than buying Palantir shares, Wood’s latest trades included buying shares of Shopify (SHOP), Circle Internet Group (CRCL), Twist Bioscience (TWST), Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB), Cameco (CCJ), Compass Pathways (CMPS), Illumina (ILMN), Kymera Therapeutics (KYMR), Iambic Therapeutics (IAM), GeneDx Holdings (WGS), and Scribe Therapeutics (SCTX).
She also trimmed positions in Bullish (BLSH), Tempus AI (TEM), Alphabet (GOOG), CareDx (CDNA), Personalis (PSNL), Toast (TOST), CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD), and Honeywell Aerospace (HONA).
Related: Oracle stock sinks as Wall Street confronts a $20 billion AI problem
