Cathie Wood sells $79.9M of strong, surging AMD stock

When a stock runs 68% in a matter of weeks, even the most convinced bulls start doing the math on what to do next.

That appears to be exactly where Cathie Wood found herself with American multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). That's a name ARK Invest has held through volatile stretches and lean years, only to watch it explode higher as agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) demand sent the semiconductor sector into a full sprint.

Wood didn't panic. She rebalanced. And she did it with the kind of methodical consistency that characterizes ARK's daily-disclosed trading strategy, trimming AMD across multiple ETFs over several weeks while rotating the proceeds into Alphabet (GOOG) and Meta Platforms (META) in the immediate aftermath of their diverging post-earnings reactions.

The total AMD reduction in ARKK ETF adds up to $79.9 million across several trading days in April, plus May 1, according to Cathie's Ark. That's a significant trim of a position that had grown enormously as AMD surged 71.5% in a single month, Yahoo Finance data confirms.

ARK publishes its trades daily, and the pattern that emerged tells a clear story about where Wood is placing her highest-conviction bets heading into the summer.



Cathie Wood trimmed a total of about $65.8 million worth of AMD shares on Friday, April 24, according to TipRanks, after earlier offloading around $10.5 million. The biggest move on May 1 was the AMD sale of 172,305 shares across multiple ARK ETFs valued at approximately $58.09 million, TipRanks added.

Cathie Wood's AMD sales unfolded across five days

The AMD reduction wasn't a single decision. It was a deliberate, staged trim executed across multiple sessions, according to ARKK ETF daily trade disclosures.

• April 10, 2026: ARK sold $5.9 million in AMD shares
• April 24, 2026: ARK sold $32.7 million in AMD shares
• April 30, 2026: ARK sold $32.2 million in AMD shares, representing 8.90% of its position
• May 1, 2026: ARK sold $9.1 million in AMD shares, 2.70% of its position
  
  Source: ARKK ETF Trades

Combined, the four rounds of selling total $79.9 million, with the majority concentrated in a two-week window between April 24 and May 1.

The backdrop for those sales is an AMD chart that has been difficult to ignore. As of the May 1 close, AMD was trading at $360.54, up 65.77% over the prior month and 68.35% year to date, according to Yahoo Finance.

Related: Cathie Wood buys $14.1 million of megacap tech stock

Against the S&P 500's 5.62% year-to-date return, AMD's performance has been extraordinary. The one-year return of 273% and the three-year return of 302% reflect what happens when a semiconductor company correctly positions itself ahead of a generational AI infrastructure buildout.

AMD is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 earnings on May 5. According to Zacks Equity Research, analysts expect quarterly EPS of $1.30, up 35.4% year over year. On revenue, they anticipate $9.84 billion, representing 32.3% year-over-year growth.

ARK's trim ahead of that print is notable, locking in gains before a catalyst that could move the stock sharply in either direction.

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ARK moved the AMD proceeds to Alphabet and Meta after strong earnings

The timing of ARK's AMD sales wasn't random. It coincided almost exactly with two major post-earnings moves in Big Tech that created what Wood apparently viewed as an entry opportunity.

Alphabet jumped 9.9% following its Q1 2026 earnings report, as strong Google Cloud results and a raised 2026 capital expenditure outlook of $180 billion to $190 billion signaled accelerating AI infrastructure investment, Bloomberg confirms.

ARK bought $14.1 million in Alphabet shares on April 28 and added $16.4 million more on April 30, according to ARKK's ETF Trades, accumulating over 84,000 shares across multiple funds.

Related: Alphabet to invest $40 billion in thriving AI company

Meta moved in the opposite direction. Despite beating Q1 estimates, Meta shares fell 8.5% as investors focused on a higher 2026 capital expenditure outlook of $125 billion to $145 billion. ARK bought $16.3 million in Meta on April 30, adding more than 47,000 shares across funds.

The pattern reflects ARK's operating logic: Sell into strength on a stock that has surged dramatically in a compressed timeframe, and buy into post-earnings weakness in companies making massive AI infrastructure commitments that Wood views as underappreciated by the market.

On May 1, ARK's other notable moves included buying $9.9 million in Roblox (RBLX) and $1.9 million in Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), according to the firm's daily trades, while also selling $7.3 million in Twist Bioscience (TWST).

What ARK's AMD trim signals about the semiconductor trade and AI spending

ARK's reduction in AMD doesn't mean Wood is bearish on the semiconductor. It means she's taking profits on a position that delivered extraordinary returns while reallocating toward the infrastructure layer she believes the market is underpricing.

AMD CEO Lisa Su met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier this week to discuss AI and U.S. technological leadership, according to Seeking Alpha reporting.

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The meeting addressed AMD's strategic importance in the AI supply chain. Recent reports indicate AMD and Intel have been able to raise central processing unit prices as data center demand tied to agentic AI workloads accelerates, validating the thesis that drove AMD's run in the first place.

The question ARK appears to be answering is one of relative value. After a 68% year-to-date move and a 273% one-year return, as Yahoo Finance notes, AMD's upside from current levels requires continued execution against aggressive consensus estimates in a market environment where any disappointment gets punished severely.

Alphabet and Meta, by contrast, sold off or traded sideways after reporting strong results and raising forward spending guidance, creating the kind of entry dynamic that ARK's strategy is specifically designed to exploit. Wood is betting that the market's short-term discomfort with AI capital expenditure eventually gives way to appreciation for what that spending builds.

May 5 will be the first test of whether the AMD trim was perfectly timed or whether the semiconductor giant's earnings give investors another reason to chase the stock higher.

Related: Cathie Wood buys $18 million of beaten-down AI stock

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This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 7:03 PM.