Observing Cathie Wood sell into a rally that she helped organize has an almost unsettling quality. Taiwan Semiconductor and Advanced Micro Devices, two companies that remain close to the top of her flagship ETF, were sold for more than $28 million by her ARK Invest funds on Monday, May 18. It wasn’t the first trade of this kind this month, and based on the trend, it most likely won’t be the last.
On their own, the numbers appear odd. This year, AMD has almost doubled, closing at $422 on Monday. TSM has increased by over 33%. Citing demand for AI server CPUs, Atif Malik of Citi increased his AMD target from $358 to $460 on the same day that ARK was hitting sell. As a result, the Street continues to set higher goals for the shares that Wood continues to sell. Investors appear to simultaneously believe that ARK is correct to lock something in and that AMD has more to offer.
It is difficult to avoid interpreting this as a trader’s decision rather than an industry assessment. Wood has the receipts to prove that she has previously trimmed surging holdings to support ideas of greater conviction. Since early May, sales of AMD alone have surpassed $100 million. About 100,549 TSM shares, valued at approximately $40.6 million, were liquidated by ARK on May 14 and 15. On May 18, even the more subdued chip-testing brand Teradyne, which has seen a 74 percent increase this year, suffered a $14.7 million loss.
Where the money is going is interesting. L3Harris Technologies, a defense contractor, was ARK’s largest acquisition that same Monday, purchasing roughly $3.18 million in shares. Next, minor additions to Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, and Amazon. One trading session for defense, e-commerce, and electric air taxis. Rather than giving up on the AI thesis, it appears that Wood is rebalancing the type of risk in her funds. Whether you want it to or not, concentrated chip exposure can subtly become the largest source of portfolio variance following a near-double.
Cerebras is another. ARK purchased $46.4 million of the AI chipmaker shortly after its May 14 IPO, almost as if to emphasize that she still has a taste for silicon. The stock began trading at $185 and gained almost 68% on the first day before declining. Cerebras is a company that produces wafer-scale chips, which are essentially one massive processor rather than thousands of piecemeal GPUs. The company’s finances reflect this trend. Between 2022 and 2025, revenue increased from $24.6 million to $510 million. The pivot reveals some of Wood’s thinking, but whether it can legitimately pursue Nvidia is a different story with a long list of risks. Leave the crowded trade and enter the more modern one.
The catch with AMD is timing, which is also likely the unstated pressure driving these sales. Although the company plans to launch its Helios rack-scale platform with the MI455X in the second half of 2026, SemiAnalysis has pointed out that mass production might not start until 2027. Because expectations grow faster than shipments arrive, stocks frequently falter during that awkward period between a product reveal and actual revenue.
Whether Wood is early, late, or just carrying out the duties of a competent portfolio manager is still up for debate. There’s a feeling that this is risk management disguised as conviction when you watch her trim week after week while the Street applauds and ordinary investors quarrel on Reddit. Alternatively, it might be the opposite. In any case, the chips remain her most valuable possession. She is still seated at the table. She simply stopped increasing the wager.
