Just two months in 2026, it’s been a challenging year for growth investors. Cathie Wood — who co-founded the Ark Invest family of exchange-traded funds where she is CEO and chief investment officer — is trying to get back on track. Her largest ETF is trading 4% lower this year, even as it’s beating the…
Just two months in 2026, it’s been a challenging year for growth investors. Cathie Wood — who co-founded the Ark Invest family of exchange-traded funds where she is CEO and chief investment officer — is trying to get back on track. Her largest ETF is trading 4% lower this year, even as it’s beating the market with a 33% gain over the past year.
Wood publishes her daily transactions. She made some interesting purchases on Thursday, adding to existing stakes in Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN), Baidu(NASDAQ: BIDU), and Nu Holdings(NYSE: NU). Let’s take a closer look.
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Shares of the leading online retailer have fallen 13% in February. The biggest hit came early in the month when Amazon delivered its financial results for the holiday quarter. The numbers were largely in line with expectations, but Amazon stunned investors by announcing plans for $200 billion in capital expenditures through 2026.
At least 16 major analysts would go on to slash their price targets on Amazon following the report. The company made a strong case for the timely opportunity to invest in artificial intelligence (AI), chips, robotics, and even low-earth-orbit satellites. It just followed some of its “Magnificent Seven” peers announcing smaller but still substantial outlays.
Momentum has been lacking for Amazon. Amazon stock rose a modest 5% in 2025, the weakest among the Mag 7 names. There are still pockets of encouragement. Amazon Web Services (AWS) — the e-tailer’s high-margin, cloud-hosting business — came through with 24% year-over-year growth, its strongest quarterly increase in more than three years.
Amazon also made positive headlines later in February, becoming the largest U.S. company by revenue. With the shares trading below their levels at the start of last year, Amazon’s retreat over the past 14 months seems like an opportunity. Wood seems to agree, adding to her position on Thursday.
Shares of Baidu declined on Thursday after the company posted mixed financial results. Its $4.7 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter was a 5% sequential increase, but just below where it landed a year earlier. Despite making waves in promising growth industries, including artificial intelligence chips and autonomous driving technology, revenue has declined slightly in three of the last four years.
Can its new growth opportunities offset the slide in its legacy search and online advertising businesses? The market has been on Baidu’s side through the recent transformation. The stock’s 41% jump over the past year is the biggest move of the three stocks here.
It will take time for these bullish bets to pay off. Analysts see revenue rising 4% this year on a mere 1% increase on the bottom line. They see acceleration in 2027, but a lot can happen between now and the end of next year.
Latin America’s Nu Holdings posted strong financial results on Thursday morning. Revenue soared a better-than-expected 57% to $4.9 billion for the parent company of Brazil’s Nubank, now serving 62% of that country’s adult population. Net income surged 62% to $895 million.
Fintech stocks don’t tend to retreat after posting that kind of growth, but customer growth — particularly in its home market — has slowed. Nu added just 4 million net new accounts during the quarter, just below the 4.5 million it added in the fourth quarter a year earlier. Nu Holdings stock declined 10% on Thursday.
However, there is still more to like than to dislike in the report. Revenue growth blasted through expectations, as average revenue per active customer expanded from $11 a month a year ago to $15 a month now. The growth is notable, as its average cost to serve an active customer remains just $0.80 a month. Its non-performing loans are improving, and return on equity hit an impressive 33%. The stock will be volatile, but you can’t blame Wood for buying on a day when the market’s negative reaction to the report appears to be overdone.
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Rick Munarriz has positions in Baidu and Nu Holdings. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Baidu. The Motley Fool recommends Nu Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Cathie Wood Goes Bargain Hunting: 3 Stocks She Just Bought was originally published by The Motley Fool
