Cathie Wood Buys $14.2M in GOOGL Just Before Earnings — Also Makes Major Bet on CoreWeave
ARK Invest snapped up 40,656 shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) worth $14.17M just ahead of its earnings release, while simultaneously adding 162,000 shares of post-IPO CoreWeave (CRWV), down 45% since listing. The high-risk AI bets continue even as ARKK sits at -1.76% YTD.
- ARK bought $14.17M in GOOGL just before earnings and added 162,000 shares of CoreWeave, off 45% since IPO
- ARKK trails the S&P 500 at -1.76% YTD, but Wood's high-risk AI concentration strategy continues
Cathie Wood's ARK Invest made a decisive purchase of 40,656 shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) — worth approximately $14.17M — on the 29th (local time), just ahead of the company's earnings release. On the same day, ARK also initiated a large position in CoreWeave (CRWV), an AI cloud infrastructure firm and NVIDIA partner, acquiring 162,000 shares.
The Alphabet purchase was executed intraday on the earnings release date itself, indicating a deliberate pre-earnings positioning move. Alphabet reported its Q1 results after market close that same day.
Alphabet — 'AI Acceleration Is Driving Search & Cloud Growth'
Wood maintains her conviction that Alphabet is a primary beneficiary of AI-integrated search and Google Cloud growth. GOOGL has been the top-performing stock among the Magnificent 7 year-to-date. Q1 consensus called for revenue of $92.2B (+20.6% YoY) and EPS of $2.64, with Google Cloud growth expected to exceed Q4's 48% clip.
CoreWeave — Buying the Dip After a 45% Post-IPO Decline
CoreWeave (CRWV) is an AI cloud infrastructure company in which NVIDIA holds a significant stake. ARK accumulated 162,000 shares at a point when the stock had fallen more than 45% from its IPO price. While some have raised concerns about AI infrastructure overinvestment — drawing comparisons to fiber-optic overbuilding during the dot-com era — Wood is positioning for outsized gains from surging AI inference demand driving cloud infrastructure adoption.
ARK Also Trimmed Some Positions
On the same day, ARK divested partial positions in Roku (ROKU) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Specific sell sizes were not disclosed in the filing.
ARKK at -1.76% YTD — High-Conviction Risk Strategy Remains Intact
Wood's recent track record continues to lag. ARKK is down 1.76% year-to-date, trailing the S&P 500's +4.67% gain. Its 5-year annualized return also remains in negative territory at approximately -9%. Nevertheless, Wood continues to execute her high-risk playbook — making large pre-earnings bets on major AI names and buying into sharp drawdowns in infrastructure plays.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does CoreWeave do?
CoreWeave is an AI cloud infrastructure company with significant backing from NVIDIA. It leases GPU clusters to provide the compute resources needed for AI model training and inference. The stock has fallen more than 45% since its IPO earlier this year.
Why does buying just before earnings attract so much attention?
A large pre-earnings purchase signals strong conviction in an earnings beat — and carries meaningful downside risk if results disappoint. ARK's daily portfolio disclosures make these earnings-eve bets visible to the public in real time, which is rare transparency for an institutional manager.
ARKK's 5-year return is around -9% — why do investors still watch it closely?
ARK's portfolio is concentrated in high-growth, high-volatility names, which can dramatically outperform in bull markets (e.g., +153% in 2020) but suffer steep losses in downturns. For investors seeking focused exposure to AI and biotech themes, ARKK remains a key vehicle to watch.
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