Only two of Ark Invest's exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have beaten the market year to date. The flagship Ark Innovation ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKK) is up just 3% in 2026, well behind the S&P 500's 12.5% gain. Still, Ark founder and Chief Executive Officer Cathie Wood is leaning into her conviction that some of the biggest long-term gains will come from the companies building the infrastructure powering artificial intelligence (AI).
During Aug. 10's sell-off, Wood bought more shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). Let's take a closer look at why Ark Invest might have bought more shares -- and whether investors should follow its lead. This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again.
In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue » Several Ark funds added Nvidia, buying a combined 122,422 shares -- about $27 million -- across five ETFs.
After dipping on Monday, the stock ended the week of Aug. 14 slightly higher and is now up 18% year to date, hovering near fresh highs. Ark's view is that we're still early in the AI infrastructure build-out. The firm estimates global AI spending could reach as much as $1.5 trillion by 2030, and Wood appears to see Nvidia as one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Even as competition heats up, Nvidia has remained on the cutting edge of computing systems. Nvidia is leaning into integrated server platforms that combine multiple chip types to improve efficiency for advanced "agentic," or autonomous, AI workloads. The result is a product stack that's harder to replace than a stand-alone chip.
Revenue rose 92% year over year last quarter, and analysts expect full-year revenue to reach $393 billion, representing growth of 82% versus last year. At roughly 25 times this year's average earnings estimate and 18 times next year's, Wood seems to view the stock's valuation as reasonable relative to Nvidia's momentum. Two Ark funds -- Ark Innovation and the Ark Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF -- added more Broadcom stock, buying 39,020 shares for roughly $16.5 million.
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