Cathie Wood sells $11.7 million of tumbling semiconductor stock

Cathie Wood, head of Ark Investment Management, has built a reputation for backing artificial intelligence stocks. But even her highest-conviction holdings aren’t immune to profit-taking.

That’s exactly what she’s doing with AMD this week, selling more shares after the chipmaker’s recent pullback.

In 2025, Wood’s 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, Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is down 3.43% as of July 17, while the S&P 500 surged 8.94%, Yahoo Finance data shows.

Wood gained a reputation after 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 fund tumbled more than 60%.

Those swings have weighed on Wood’s long-term gains. As of July 19, Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -8.23%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 11.50% over the same period, according to data from Morningstar.

Cathie Wood flags “the deflationary impact” of tech innovation

Wood focuses on high-tech companies across artificial intelligence, blockchain, biomedical technology, and robotics. She thinks these businesses have strong growth potential, though their volatility often causes fluctuations in the Ark’s funds.

From 2014 to 2024, Ark Innovation ETF wiped out $7 billion in investor wealth, according to a March 2025 analysis by Morningstar’s analyst Amy Arnott. That made it the third-biggest wealth destroyer among mutual funds and ETFs in Arnott’s ranking. The analyst hasn’t updated her ranking.

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.

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. ”

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.”

But not all investors agree with Wood’s optimism. Over the past 12 months through July 16, Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.26 billion in net outflows, according to data from ETF research firm VettaFi.

Over the past 12 months through July 16, Ark Innovation ETF saw roughly $1.26 billion in net outflows.

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Cathie Wood sells $11.7 million of AMD stock

On July 17, Wood’s Ark funds sold 23,573 shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), according to Ark’s daily trade information. Based on the July 17 closing price of $495.76, the shares are valued at about $11.7 million.

Wood has been steadily trimming her AMD position over the past few months and has continued doing so in July. Including the latest sale, Ark has sold 137,421 AMD shares this month, worth about $68.1 million based on the latest closing price.

Shares of AMD fell more than 11% over the past week as semiconductor stocks pulled back. The selloff was triggered by Micron Technology (MU), which came under pressure amid concerns about rising competition from a Chinese chipmaker peer.

According to Barron’s, Chinese memory-chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies is preparing a Shanghai IPO that could raise up to 66.7 billion yuan ($9.8 billion).

Although AMD mainly focuses on CPUs and GPUs and doesn’t compete in the memory market, the stock fell as investors took profits across the semiconductor sector after its strong run this year.

Even after the recent pullback, AMD stock was still up 131.5% year to date, outperforming the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index’s 62.8% gain. Its bigger competitor, Nvidia (NVDA), was up just 8.7%.

At AMD’s Advancing AI 2026 event, on July 22 and 23, CEO Lisa Su is expected to unveil updates on the company’s AI roadmap, including the MI450X accelerator, the MI500 GPU family and next-generation server processors.

Ahead of the event, UBS raised its price target on AMD to $700 from $670 while maintaining a buy rating, according to a recent research note.

The firm said supply-chain checks point to stronger demand for AMD’s AI accelerators through 2027, and suggested Amazon could become a major customer for the MI450X platform.

UBS also raised its 2027 revenue forecast for AMD to $83.4 billion from $79.2 billion, and increased its earnings estimate to $14.63 per share.

In May, AMD reported strong first-quarter results. The company raised its forecast for the data center CPU market, citing growing demand for agentic AI, and reiterated that it expects its AI GPU business to exceed its long-term target of 80% annual revenue growth. The company is to deliver its next earnings results in August.

AMD remains the eighth-largest holding in the Ark Innovation ETF despite Wood’s recent selling.

Top 10 Holdings in Ark Innovation ETF by Portfolio Weight as of July 16, 2026:

Tesla (TSLA) – 10.40%
Tempus AI (TEM) – 5.43%
Shopify (SHOP) – 4.82%
Robinhood Markets (HOOD) – 4.74%
CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) – 4.56%
Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX) – 4.39%
Coinbase Global (COIN) – 4.24%
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) – 4.04%
Roblox (RBLX) – 3.45%
Circle Internet Group (CRCL) – 3.33%

Other than selling AMD shares, Wood’s latest trades included adding shares of Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX), CoreWeave (CRWV), X-Energy (XE), AeroVironment (AVAV), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Pony AI (PONY), WeRide (WRD), and Kodiak AI (KDK).

Wood also trimmed positions in Robinhood Markets (HOOD), Twist Bioscience (TWST), 10x Genomics (TXG), Deere (DE), Caterpillar (CAT), Baidu (BIDU), Strata Critical Medical (SRTA), and Iridium Communications (IRDM).