Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management made a notable equity move at the start of September, buying heavily into Rocket Lab and Block while trimming several high-flying technology positions. On Tuesday, ARK purchased 504,799 Rocket Lab shares across three ETFs for approximately $31.6 million at the $62.54 closing price. This followed a purchase of 200,303 shares on Monday, bringing the two-day total to 705,102 shares worth roughly $44 million.
Rocket Lab shares fell 2.2% on Tuesday, marking their ninth decline in ten sessions, and slipped further after hours. The stock has come under pressure after NASA selected Blue Origin to develop the Mars Telecommunications Network under a contract with a maximum potential value of about $700 million. Rocket Lab had been eligible to compete for that award. At the same time, Chief Executive Peter Beck has said the launch window for the company’s Neutron rocket by the end of the year is “narrowing.” Despite these setbacks, Rocket Lab reported a record second-quarter backlog of $2.36 billion, up 137% year over year, with about 45.5% expected to be recognized within 12 months.
ARK also bought 456,059 shares of Block worth about $38.1 million as the stock dipped 1.9%. That added to a buying streak that included roughly $21 million in early August and $15.4 million in mid-August. Block reported second-quarter gross profit of $3.17 billion, up 25%, with Cash App growing 31%. The company raised its 2026 gross profit forecast to $12.51 billion and expects adjusted earnings per share of $4.02, up 70% year over year.
To help fund the new positions, ARK sold about $26 million of Palantir and trimmed positions in Tempus AI and Shopify. The firm also sold 7,450 AMD shares worth around $3.4 million across ARKQ and ARKX, though it still holds about $160 million in AMD. Wall Street maintains Strong Buy ratings on both AMD and Rocket Lab, with average price targets of $647.19 and $110.60 respectively.
