ARK Invest's 2025 performance data has been finalized, offering a comprehensive look back at the stocks Cathie Wood identified as underappreciated going into the previous year.
ARK dissected how these specific disruptive technology firms navigated the market cycles of 2025 and gave a breakdown of the year's biggest winners and losers.
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ARK's Winners
Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) emerged as the primary driver of growth for Ark's portfolio over the last year. ending 2025 with a 204% gain.
The firm noted that Robinhood successfully transitioned from a meme-stock trading app into a full-service financial hub.
Its expansion into international brokerage services and the successful rollout of its credit card product helped diversify its revenue streams and attract a more stable asset base throughout the year.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) stock also delivered strong results for investors. The company finished 2025 with a remarkable 135% return, bolstered by the rapid commercial scaling of its Artificial Intelligence Platform.
Wood's long-standing thesis that software would eventually capture more value than hardware was validated as Palantir secured numerous high-value enterprise contracts.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) provided a solid 77% return for the year.
Although competition remains intense, AMD secured vital partnerships with major hyperscalers for its AI accelerators.
According to Ark, AMD's continued market share gains in the x86 server CPU market, particularly with its EPYC processors, helped sustain its valuation even as the semiconductor cycle faced pockets of softness.
Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) proved its resilience by posting a 42% return in 2025. The e-commerce giant benefited from the integration of generative AI into its merchant tools, which helped small and medium-sized businesses optimize their logistics and storefronts.
Focusing on operational efficiency allowed Shopify to maintain its dominant market position despite a complex consumer spending environment, according to ARK.
ARK's Losers
Not all of Wood's selections fared as well and the firm defines weak performers as positions held throughout 2025 that declined by more than 30%.
Despite these pullbacks—often driven by short-term market scrutiny—ARK maintains steadfast conviction in these companies’ long-term platform objectives.
The Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) declined 68% in 2025 following its first earnings miss since its IPO and a period of slower-than-expected growth. ARK pointed to increased competition from large-cap tech platforms and a reorganization of the finance function that added to investor uncertainty in 2025.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RXRX) fell 40% in 2025 as the company rationalized its portfolio, discontinuing several programs with limited clinical activity while integrating the Exscientia acquisition.
With a new CEO effective January 2026 and ongoing validation from partners like Roche and Genentech, ARK expects the company to increasingly translate its massive biological datasets into high-conviction clinical candidates.
Twist Bioscience Corp. (NASDAQ:TWST) saw a 32% decline, primarily due to temporary headwinds in government research funding and a strategic spin-out of its DNA data storage business.
ARK noted a minor revenue “air pocket” from a large customer transition also weighed on shares late in the year. Nevertheless, the firm views Twist's silicon-based DNA synthesis remains a critical, low-cost enabler for the genomics industry.
The Takeaway
Overall, the ARK Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKK) delivered a 35.5% return, significantly outperforming the broader equity market. For comparison, the S&P 500 rose approximately 16.6% during the same period, meaning ARKK outperformed the benchmark by nearly 19 percentage points.
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