According to Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, U.S. technology is expected to “do very well” under President Trump’s administration, with one industry in particular.
“I absolutely think that the United States was in danger of losing its innovative edge. Undoubtedly, we nearly lost the digital assets revolution to other nations under the last SEC Chairman [Gary] Gensler. In several interviews with Bloomberg on Monday, Wood stated that trade negotiations are producing “a tax cut, certainly for the U.S.” “Now it’s coming back.”
With particular reference to “technologically-enabled innovation,” which she considers to be “highly undervalued,” she stated, “I think under this regime, technology in the U.S. will do very well.”
Ark Invest is constantly searching for more “innovative companies” worldwide, Wood added. “We believe the market in the U.S. is going to broaden out and reward some of the companies that have lagged behind badly,” Wood said.
She added that they are particularly excited about healthcare because they believe AI would significantly reduce the expenses associated with drug research and discovery.
“We predict that it will take eight years instead of thirteen to find and introduce a new medication. We believe that considerably earlier disease diagnosis will be possible using molecular diagnostic techniques. “We’re going to shift our focus from sick care, which accounts for 85% of healthcare spending in the United States, to therapies that truly cure,” she stated.
She is interested in the biotech company Crispr Therapeutics (CRSP) and the synthetic biology company Twist Biosciences (TWST).
“You have to make sure pharma holdings are harnessing these tools,” she added, adding that “I think healthcare is the most underappreciated beneficiary of AI out there,” failing which they will face competition from newer firms.
“Robotics, energy storage, AI, blockchain technology and multiomic sequencing in the life science space are going to be the big drivers in the years ahead,” she stated.
According to Wood, the “collapsing” innovation costs for AI training and inference—the process by which models make inferences based on fresh data—will likewise improve technology.
Although ARK portfolios have seen “tremendous headwinds over the last four years,” the money manager acknowledged that more recently, market prices have decreased, which has helped. With a 19% gain this quarter following an 8% return in 2024, her flagship ARK Innovation exchange-traded fund, ARKK, is marginally optimistic for 2025.
While Elon Musk’s involvement in U.S. politics has caused “brand damage” for Tesla (TSLA), which was decreased in the flagship fund over the latter part of last year, Wood pointed out a significant plus for the electric vehicle manufacturer: an anticipated “lock” on robotaxis in the United States.
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Regarding the economy, Wood stated that she anticipates positive surprises for U.S. GDP at the end of the year and negative surprises for inflation, “because technology is inherently deflationary.”
