Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest is deploying millions into SpaceX, Palantir, and Cerebras as artificial intelligence stocks pull back from recent highs, a contrarian bet that the fund manager has made repeatedly throughout 2026 when growth-focused equities fall out of favor.
Earlier this week, Wood purchased approximately $7 million worth of SpaceX stock, marking the third time ARK has bought the dip since the rocket company’s historic IPO in mid-June. As of Wednesday, SpaceX traded at $149 per share, down 13% over the past five days and 29% from its peak of $211 last month, according to Fortune. The purchase signals Wood’s conviction that the pullback presents an opportunity rather than a warning sign for the aerospace and AI infrastructure company.
ARK’s most aggressive moves came in late June, when Wood loaded up on shares of two AI infrastructure plays. On June 25 and 26, Wood purchased 81,254 shares of Palantir Technologies worth $9.48 million, according to Barchart. The same week, ARK bought 25,795 shares of Cerebras Systems for $5.85 million, The Motley Fool reported. Both stocks had suffered sharp declines as the broader market reassessed valuations on growth equities. Palantir, which has long been one of Wood’s highest-conviction AI bets, had fallen 48% from its November peak, while Cerebras, which debuted as an IPO in May, had surrendered more than half its value from its first-day closing.
The timing of these purchases reflects Wood’s well-documented contrarian strategy. The Nasdaq-100 experienced a minor 2.8% pullback in June as investors briefly rotated capital into small-cap and value stocks and worried about AI valuations, Yahoo Finance reported on July 1. The broader Magnificent Seven tech stocks declined roughly 12.7% in June, according to Intellectia AI, creating the kind of dislocation Wood has historically exploited. Palantir stock is down 29% year-to-date, compared to the overall market’s gain of 9% so far in 2026, yet the company’s fundamentals tell a different story: first-quarter revenue grew 85% year-over-year to $1.63 billion, and adjusted earnings per share rose 153% year-over-year to $0.33, The Motley Fool noted.
Cerebras posted equally impressive growth in its first quarter as a public company. Core revenue grew 92% year-over-year to $191.3 million, with the company benefiting from a landmark commitment by OpenAI to purchase more than $20 billion of compute over several years, Barchart reported. However, that customer concentration also carries risk, as Cerebras’ future revenue timing depends on OpenAI’s deployment decisions rather than the company’s own control.
To fund the SpaceX purchase, Wood sold roughly 570,000 shares of Alibaba, which ARK had reinvested in last year after a four-year absence from Chinese equities. The sale underscores Wood’s shifting priorities: despite having returned to China stocks, SpaceX’s potential—driven by its AI, data center, and aerospace businesses—now ranks higher on her list. ARK’s research projects SpaceX could reach an enterprise value of $3.1 trillion by 2030, compared to its current market cap of $1.9 trillion, Fortune reported.
Wood’s pattern of buying during AI stock pullbacks reflects her long-standing thesis that temporary market dislocations create opportunities in transformative technologies. When similar downturns occurred earlier in 2026, she consistently added to positions in growth-stage AI and tech companies, a strategy that has defined ARK’s investment approach since the fund’s inception.
Sources
- Fortune — Cathie Wood’s $7 million SpaceX purchase on July 8, 2026, SpaceX share price and decline metrics, and ARK’s $3.1 trillion valuation thesis for SpaceX by 2030.
- Barchart — Palantir purchase of 81,254 shares for $9.48 million on June 25-26; Cerebras purchase of 25,795 shares for $5.85 million; Palantir Q1 revenue growth and earnings figures; Cerebras Q1 revenue growth, OpenAI commitment, and customer concentration risk.
- The Motley Fool — Palantir’s 48% decline from November peak, Cerebras’ 43% decline from first-day peak, Palantir’s 29% year-to-date decline, and year-over-year revenue and earnings growth figures.
- Yahoo Finance — Nasdaq-100 pullback of 2.8% in June 2026 and broader market context.
- Intellectia AI — Magnificent Seven decline of 12.7% in June 2026.
