Cathie Wood Goes Bargain Hunting: 3 Stocks She Just Bought

It's Friday the 13th, but Cathie Wood isn't scared. The widely followed growth investor has been busy adding to some of her favorite positions. The co-founder at Ark Invest bought more shares of Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR), CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV), and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) on Thursday.

The three stocks are trading as much as 42% lower in 2026. Wood is buying on weakness, something that there have been plenty of opportunities to do so far this year. Let's take a closer look at all three transactions.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Archer Aviation

Turbulence has been part of the Archer Aviation stock ownership experience since going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in late 2021. The shares plummeted almost 70% in its first full year on the market, only to soar fourfold in value over the three subsequent years. That brings us to 2026, with investors losing altitude again. Archer has fallen 42% this year through Thursday's close.

Archer's goal is ambitious. It's one of two publicly traded players with 10-figure market caps that have developed electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. They are small and take off vertically like a helicopter, so they don't require long runways to take off and land. Some key differences from traditional helicopters are that they have much smaller propellers, fly more like small airplanes when airborne, and are electric.

The platform is viable. Archer is currently taking its flagship Midnight aircraft on the road, so to speak, in a "No Roads" flight tour. It is demonstrating its product as it clears the Federal Aviation Administration requirements ahead of passenger flights expected to start next year. Analysts see Archer's revenue taking off in a hurry in the coming years.

• 2026: $17 million
• 2027: $124 million
• 2028: $481 million
• 2029: $1.4 billion
• 2030: $2.3 billion

There are some limitations. Archer's Midnight can travel only 100 miles between charges. It also has enough room for just four passengers in addition to the pilot. There is still a market for these short trips in the luxury air-taxi and stealth military markets, and Archer has already lined up a few potentially lucrative deals on those fronts.

It will be years before it reaches profitability, but a strong balance sheet -- flush with more than $1.3 billion in cash -- gives it plenty of time to get there. Investors saw what happened to Archer stock the last time it had a sharp annual decline. Wood and her Ark Invest team believe it can happen again.

2. CoreWeave

CoreWeave stock was one of this week's biggest earnings season gainers, soaring 25% on its heaviest trading volume of the year on Wednesday. It was a blowout performance, but the hyperscaler's stock is still trading more than 20% lower in 2026.

CoreWeave's revenue growth accelerated to 168% in this week's financial report, a big step up from the still-impressive 113% top-line jump it posted in the second quarter. It also raised its guidance. Its order backlog continues to swell.

The AI boom is still in play. CoreWeave mentioned on its call that demand for next year is 10 times its current capacity. It's a good problem for a company to have, but the sustainability of that momentum is what keeps the market nervous between the upticks. It doesn't mean that there aren't opportunities in the pockets of uncertainty. It probably helped CoreWeave this week that more than 13% of its shares are currently being sold short. A stronger-than-expected report like the hyperscaler delivered this week can send those bears scrambling to cover their positions.

3. RocketLab

Awarding Rocket Lab as the relative winner of this shopping list because it's only down 8% this year is deceptive. Rocket Lab shares are still 58% below their all-time high set just six months ago.

It doesn't mean that Rocket Lab isn't ready to take off again. It's a leading provider of space systems and launch services, at a time when rocket launches have never been more popular.

Revenue soared 73% to $268 million in its latest quarter. Its order backlog of $3.6 billion surged 52% in just the previous three months. Rocket Lab is also inching closer to profitability, reporting positive operating cash flow in the third quarter. Being further along the growth curve in the often-speculative universe of space stocks has its advantages.

Rick Munarriz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.