Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, likes to lock in gains when her tech darlings rally.Â
That’s exactly what she’s doing with Snowflake, trimming her position after the cloud software stock surged nearly 10% over the past five trading days ahead of earnings.
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. But so far this year, Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is down 8.51% as of July 31, while the S&P 500 surged 9.41%, 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 31, her Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -9.75%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 11.25% over the same period, according to data from Morningstar.
Over the past 12 months through July 30, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.49 billion in net outflows.Getty Images
Cathie Wood flags “the deflationary impact” of tech innovation
Wood usually focuses on high-tech companies across artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology, and robotics. She believes these businesses have strong growth potential, though 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 an analysis by Morningstar’s analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the fourth-biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in the ranking.Â
Wood believes investors have been focusing on the wrong signals as they assess the outlook for inflation, interest rates, and stocks.
In a June 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.Â
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.
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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 July 30, the Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.49 billion in net outflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.Â
Cathie Wood sells $5.5 million of Snowflake stock
On July 31, Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF sold 18,855 shares of Snowflake Inc (SNOW), according to its daily trading information. Based on the latest closing price of $293.28, these stocks were worth about $5.5 million.Â
Snowflake is a software company that helps businesses handle large amounts of data. Earlier this year, investors worried that AI could disrupt the software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model, which charges customers based on the number of users.
But that’s not the story for Snowflake.
Shares of Snowflake have surged 9.41% over the past five trading days, largely due to a bullish call from Wells Fargo. On July 29, the bank raised its price target on the stock to $500 from $320 while maintaining its Overweight rating, saying “the game has changed,” according to The Fly.
That is the highest target on Wall Street, implying roughly 70% upside from the July 31 close of $293.28.
Wells Fargo believes AI agents are accelerating customer spending on Snowflake, while investors are underestimating the company’s AI-driven growth potential.
The analyst sees Snowflake as a near-term AI beneficiary “without capex requirements or model dependence.” That means the company can profit without having to spend heavily on infrastructure.
Year-to-date, Snowflake stock is up 33.7%, including a 36.48% jump on May 28 after the company delivered stronger-than-expected earnings and announced plans to spend $6 billion on Amazon Web Services infrastructure over the next five years. That was Snowflake’s biggest single-day gain on record.
For its fiscal first quarter, Snowflake reported adjusted earnings of 39 cents per share and revenue of $1.39 billion, which was up 33% from a year earlier. Analysts were expecting earnings of 32 cents per share and revenue of $1.32 billion, CNBC reported.
Snowflake also issued upbeat guidance. It forecast fiscal second-quarter product revenue of $1.415 billion to $1.420 billion and an adjusted operating margin of 12.5%. Wall Street was looking for product revenue of $1.37 billion and an adjusted operating margin of 11.9%.
Snowflake is estimated to report its fiscal Q2 earnings on August 26.
“AI continues to be a powerful tailwind for Snowflake, and Q1 marks a clear inflection point in that journey. With Cortex Code and Snowflake Intelligence, we are extending from the trusted foundation for enterprise data and context to become the control plane for the Agentic Enterprise,” Snowflake’s CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy said in a statement.
“We are seeing strong momentum from both AI-driven acceleration of our core platform and growing adoption of our first-party AI products, positioning Snowflake to lead in this new era.”
Wood significantly increased her Snowflake position on June 18, purchasing 223,690 shares valued at roughly $52 million at the time. More recently, her funds began trimming the stake, selling another 14,684 shares on July 20. This was likely a profit-taking move before earnings.
Snowflake is not in Ark Innovation ETF’s top 10 holdings.
Top 10 Holdings in the Ark Innovation ETF by Portfolio Weight as of July 31, 2026:
Tesla (TSLA) – 9.42%
SpaceX (SPCX) – 4.92%
Tempus AI (TEM) – 4.81%
CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) – 4.66%
Coinbase (COIN) – 4.54%
Shopify (SHOP) – 4.54%
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) – 3.96%
Circle Internet Group (CRCL) – 3.82%
Robinhood Markets (HOOD) – 3.54%
10x Genomics (TXG) – 3.43%
Other than selling Snowflake shares, Wood’s latest trades included buying CoreWeave (CRWV), Circle Internet Group (CRCL), Pony AI (PONY), and a small amount of Kodiak AI (KDK).
She also trimmed positions in Shopify (SHOP), 10x Genomics (TXG), Brera Holdings (SLMT), Figma (FIG), Strata Critical Medical (SRTA), and Iridium Communications (IRDM).
