Key Points
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Cathie Wood used a recent sell-off to add shares of Nvidia and Broadcom, doubling down on long-term AI infrastructure demand.
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ARK thinks Nvidia can keep winning even as competition rises.
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Broadcom’s custom AI chips give investors exposure to the growing demand for custom ASICs and other AI accelerators.
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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.
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Nvidia
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.
Broadcom
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. The shares fell about 8% for the week ended Aug. 14, but are up about 8% year to date.
Ark isn’t only betting on Nvidia’s GPUs (graphics processing units). The firm also expects strong demand for Broadcom’s custom AI chips — ASICs (application specific integrated circuits) and other accelerators (XPUs) — as hyperscalers invest in silicon tailored to their own workloads. Ark believes these specialized chips could capture a growing share of AI computing, potentially approaching a third of the market by 2030.
That dynamic makes Broadcom both a bet on rising AI spend and a partial hedge if Nvidia’s share gradually declines. By owning both stocks, an investor gains broader exposure to the growing demand for AI chips. Broadcom is benefiting from large customers who want more control over cost, supply, and performance — and to reduce dependence on a single vendor. Three of Broadcom’s biggest customers include Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI.
Broadcom expects AI chip revenue to reach $56 billion in fiscal 2026 and to rise above $100 billion the following year. With the stock trading at about 20 times next year’s average earnings estimate, Wood appears to see an attractive setup for more gains.
Is now the time to buy these stocks?
Even if Broadcom’s custom chips continue to gain share, a fast-growing market can still reward both companies. Nvidia doesn’t need to own every incremental dollar of AI spending to deliver strong returns. Looking out to 2030, Ark Invest believes Nvidia will still account for most of the computing-power market.
The bigger risk for both stocks is a temporary lull in AI infrastructure spending, which would likely create a big sell-off in these stocks. Still, for an investor who believes the next 10 years will see significant growth for the chip industry, Nvidia and Broadcom are offering attractive valuations. These are compelling stocks to buy for a growth-oriented investment portfolio, but the prudent approach is to size positions to ride out the volatility inherent in high-growth, AI stocks.
Should you buy stock in Nvidia right now?
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John Ballard has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Broadcom, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
