Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, is known for actively trading her holdings, sometimes selling shares during sharp market pullbacks.
Semiconductor stocks saw a major market pullback on May 15, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) falling about 4%. In the midst of that selloff, Wood sold millions of dollars worth of stock in a chip-making company.
In 2025, Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF gained 35.49%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s return of 17.88% over the same period. Year to date, Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is down 3.81%, trailing the S&P 500’s more than 8% gain.
Wood built a reputation after the Ark Innovation ETF returned 153% in 2020. But his style also brings painful losses in bear markets, as seen in 2022, when the Ark Innovation ETF fell more than 60%.
Those changes have weighed on Wood’s long-term earnings. As of May 7, the Ark Innovation ETF has returned a five-year annualized return of -6.25%while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 13.80% during the same period, according to Morningstar data.
Cathie Wood expects a “huge acceleration” thanks to technological advances
Wood focuses on high-tech companies in artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology and robotics. She believes these businesses have great growth potential, although 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) was second on the list, while the ARK Innovation ETF was fifth.
From 2014 to 2024, the Ark Innovation ETF wiped out $7 billion in investor wealth, according to an analysis by Morningstar analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the third biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott’s ranking. The analyst has not updated the 2025 ranking.
In a Bloomberg podcast from March, Wood says the global economy is not headed for a recession, but rather for what she calls a “great acceleration” driven by artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies.
“We’re not going to enter the Great Depression, we’re going to enter the Great Acceleration,” Wood said, noting how the technological revolutions of the past reshaped economic growth.
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He noted that global real GDP growth averaged just 0.6% between 1500 and 1900, before the Industrial Revolution raised it to around 3% for more than a century. Now, he argues, a new wave of innovation could drive growth much further.
“We think (technologies) are going to push growth into the 7 to 8 percent range,” Wood said, adding that the figure may actually be conservative.
Wood also emphasized that AI is rapidly reducing costs across industries.
“These technologies are deflationary,” he said. “AI training costs are falling by 75% per year, and inference costs are falling by 85% and even 98% annually.”
In a previous letter published in January, Wood rejects the “AI bubble” narrative, saying it is “years away” and that “the most powerful capital spending cycle in history” is looming.
Some investors seem to agree with Wood’s optimism. In the past five days through May 14, the Ark Innovation ETF saw about $1.48 billion in net inflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.
In the past five days through May 14, the Ark Innovation ETF saw about $1.48 billion in net inflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.Getty Images
Cathie Wood sells Taiwan Semiconductor shares worth $40.6 million
On May 14 and 15, Wood’s Ark funds sold a total of 100,549 shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM), or TSMC, according to Ark’s daily trading information. These shares are valued at around $40.6 million.
Shares of TSMC, the world’s largest contract semiconductor foundry and a key supplier to Nvidia (NVDA), are up about 35% so far this year as investors bet on a much larger semiconductor market and a growing role for the company in the AI supply chain.
Related: Cathie Wood Buys $12.9 Million in Falling Tech Stocks
TSMC just revealed that it now expects the semiconductor market to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, surpassing its previous forecast of $1 trillion, according to its presentation materials ahead of a technology symposium on May 14, Reuters reported.
The company has become a key manufacturer for the AI industry because most advanced AI chips cannot be mass produced without Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s advanced chip manufacturing and packaging technology.
Among the $1.5 trillion chip market by 2030, TSMC sees 55% of demand tied to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
In April, TSMC reported upbeat first-quarter 2026 results. Revenue increased by 35.1%, net income and diluted EPS increased by 58.3%, and gross margin reached 66.2%.
Those numbers are well above Wall Street’s expectations. The company also raised its full-year 2026 outlook to revenue growth of more than 30% in US dollars.
“AI-related demand remains extremely strong,” TSMC CEO CC Wei said on the first-quarter earnings conference call.
“Our business in the first quarter was supported by strong demand for our cutting-edge process technologies,” TSMC Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said in a press release. “Looking ahead to the second quarter of 2026, we expect our business to be supported by continued strong demand for our cutting-edge process technologies.”
Barclays raised its price target on TSMC to $470 from $450 and maintained an overweight rating on the stock after the earnings, The Fly reported.
Analysts said TSMC reported another quarter of “impressive delivery” with an earlier-than-expected guidance update, the analyst wrote in a research note.
Barclays believes TSMC’s AI demand momentum will continue, making the stock “a core holding.”
TSMC is not among the top 10 holdings of Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF.
Ark Innovation ETF’s Top 10 Holdings as of May 15, 2026:
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) 11.16%
Advanced Microdevices, Inc. (AMD) 5.57%
Circle Internet Group Inc. (CRCL) 5.23%
CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP) 4.74%
Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) 4.72%
Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) 4.70%
Roku, Inc. (ROKU) 4.62%
Tempus AI, Inc. (TEM) 4.61%
Shopify Inc. (STORE) 3.83%
Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) 2.97%
In addition to selling TSMC shares, Wood’s recent trading activity included purchases of Cerebras Systems (CBRS), while selling Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Twist Bioscience (TWST), Teradyne (TER), and CareDx (CDNA).
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This story was originally published by TheStreet on May 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Investments section. Add TheStreet as a preferred source by clicking here.
