Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, has a history of buying stocks shortly after their IPOs.
In recent years, Wood’s Ark funds have invested in emerging public companies such as Tempus AI (TEM), Coinbase (COIN), and CoreWeave (CRWV), reflecting its strategy to gain early exposure to high-growth businesses in artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and cloud computing.
Now, Wood is making another IPO bet, buying more than $529 million worth of SpaceX stock.
Through 2025, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF has gained 35.49%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s return of 17.88% over the same period. But so far this year, Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is down 2.85%, while the S&P 500 is down 8.56%, Yahoo Finance data shows.
Wood gained notoriety after the Ark Innovation ETF delivered a 153% return in 2020. However, his style also brings painful losses in the bear market, as seen in 2022, when the Ark Innovation ETF dropped more than 60%.
Those swings weighed on Wood’s long-term gains. As of June 12, the Ark Innovation ETF delivered a five-year return -8.06%while the S&P 500 has annual returns 11.84% at the same time, according to data from Morningstar.
Cathie Wood expects a “tremendous acceleration” brought about by technological advances
Wood focuses on high-tech companies across artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology, and robotics. He thinks these businesses have strong potential for growth, although their volatility often creates fluctuations in the Ark’s finances.
According to Morningstar analyst Bella Albrecht, the two Wood’s Ark funds were among the worst-performing ETFs in the first half of 2026. The Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) ranked second on the list, while the ARK Innovation ETF came in fifth.
In the past 12 months through June 11, the ARK Innovation ETF saw approximately $294.27 million in net outflows.Getty Images
From 2014 to 2024, the Ark Innovation ETF moved $7 billion in investor wealth, according to a March 2025 study 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 his rating.
More SpaceX:
Wood said on the June 5 episode of “In the Know” that he was watching June 17, when Kevin Warsh, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, announced the next interest rate decision.
“I believe that Kevin Warsh knows that interest rates should go down, loan rates at least. And if inflation goes down as production grows, no matter how strong the economy is, I think he will lower rates,” said Wood.
Related: Cathie Wood sells $16.2 million of falling megacap stock
Wood said productivity improvements brought about by technology help drive the economy while reducing inflation. He added that oil prices already seem to be rising and may drop even further if the Iran war is resolved.
In a March Bloomberg podcast, Wood argues that the global economy is not entering a recession, but rather what he calls a “massive acceleration” driven by AI and other breakthrough technologies.
“We’re not going to go into a Great Depression, we’re going to go into a recession,” Wood said. “This technology is being reduced … The cost of AI training is reduced by 75% per year, and the cost of reasoning is reduced by 85% to even 98% per year.”
But not all investors agree with Wood’s optimism. In the past 12 months through June 11, the ARK Innovation ETF has seen about $294.27 million in net outflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.
Cathie Wood buys $529.7millions of SpaceX stock
On June 12, Wood’s Ark funds bought a total of 3,291,184 shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SPCX), commonly known as SpaceX. Based on the recent closing price of $160.95, these stocks were valued at $529.7 million.
June 12 was SpaceX’s first day of trading, and its shares rose 19%. This rally pushed Elon Musk’s net worth to over $1 billion, making him the world’s first trillionaire. Musk also serves as CEO of EV maker Tesla (TSLA).
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 as a reusable rocket company, but today its only profitable business is the Starlink satellite division. According to the company’s prospectus, SpaceX has a surplus of $41.3 billion as of March 31.
Wood was already an investor in SpaceX before the company’s IPO. Ark Invest first bought shares of SpaceX in late 2023, and later became the largest fund in the private equity fund at about $1 billion, according to Business Insider.
Wood has long been one of Musk’s biggest supporters. During CNBC’s 2023 show covered by TheStreet’s Moz Farooque, he said turbulent times often bring out Musk’s best work.
“Yet these difficult times inspire Elon’s creativity. He is a problem solver and a brilliant technologist,” Wood said.
Still, many other investors and analysts are skeptical of SpaceX’s aggressiveness, citing valuation concerns and the large share of retail investors in the IPO.
“The immediate concern is the large stock market,” veteran tech trader James DePorre wrote in a recent post on TheStreet Pro. “The sales share is 30% of the contribution, which is much higher than the usual 5 to 10%.”
DePorre noted that investors who sold shares at $135 have an incentive to sell their shares if the price moves meaningfully higher. “That will create supply pressure,” he wrote.
In addition to buying SpaceX stock, Wood’s recent trades also included selling shares of Tesla ( TSLA ), Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ), Rocket Lab ( RKLB ), Roku ( ROKU ), and Chinese technology company Baidu ( BIDU ).
Related: Goldman Sachs doubles down on 2026 stock market outlook
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jun 15, 2026, where it appeared first in the investing category. Add TheStreet as a favorite source by clicking here.
