Cathie Wood Sells $92M in Surging Semiconductor Stock

ARK Invest sold 156,286 shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) on August 28, 2026, valued at $74.5 million, following an earlier sale of 37,977 shares worth over $18 million on August 26, bringing total disposals above $92 million within three days.

AMD surged 115% year-to-date, and understanding why a fund manager would sell during that kind of run is a practical step toward doing better financially with your own allocation. This is the tension between price and value worth examining.

AMD's Q2 revenue hit $11.5 billion, with data center up 107%

AMD reported record second-quarter 2026 revenue of $11.5 billion, up 50% year over year, driven primarily by data center demand, AMD's Newsroom stated on August 4, 2026.

• Data center revenue of $6.7 billion, up 107% year over year, representing 58% of total revenue
• Data center operating income of $2.1 billion and a 31% operating margin, compared with a $155 million loss a year earlier
• Non-GAAP earnings of $1.66 a share, beating the $1.62 estimate
• Q3 guidance of approximately $13 billion, implying 41% year-over-year growth

CFO Jean Hu said the company expects data center sales to accelerate in the second half of 2026 as Helios rack-scale shipments begin, according to the company's August 4 earnings release.

Raymond James upgraded AMD to Strong Buy with a $641 target

Analyst Simon Leopold elevated AMD to Strong Buy from Outperform and raised his price target from $565 to $641, calling AMD the most compelling combination of earnings growth, data center exposure, and competitive gains among semiconductor stocks, according to Blockonomi.

Leopold anticipates AMD's data center business will at minimum double during 2027 and sees a realistic scenario where AMD surpasses Intel in data center CPU revenue within two years. The consensus across 34 analysts sits at Strong Buy with an average price target of $647.19, implying approximately 41%, Blockonomi confirmed.

ARK sold AMD and bought $76 million of Nvidia and Broadcom

On the same day ARK sold $74.5 million in AMD, the fund purchased 243,707 Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares for $55.6 million and 55,131 Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares for $20.5 million, Investing.com disclosed.

The simultaneous trades could suggest ARK remains bullish on semiconductors broadly while favoring Nvidia and Broadcom over AMD. Your interpretation of this trade depends on whether you view it as profit-taking after a 115% run or as a deliberate bet that Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem offers a wider moat than AMD's ROCm.

Two AMD executives sold shares through pre-planned trading plans

EVP Forrest Norrod sold 17,261 shares at $459.95 on August 24, and EVP Mark Papermaster sold 28,811 shares at $471.87 on August 20, both through pre-established Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, Blockonomi reported.

Pre-planned sales do not carry the same signal as discretionary selling because the timing is set months in advance. Because these sales were made under pre-established trading plans, they offer less insight into what the executives thought about AMD's valuation at the time of the transactions.

AMD trades at 118 times trailing earnings with a PEG ratio of 4.87

AMD carried a trailing P/E of 118.15 and a PEG ratio of 4.87 as of September 2, 2026, with a market capitalization near $750 billion, Blockonomi indicated. The stock's 50-day moving average registered at $502.84, compared with a 200-day moving average of $389.16.

A P/E of 118 means you are paying roughly $118 for every dollar of trailing earnings AMD generates. The 107% data center growth supports the premium, but a PEG ratio of 4.87 may indicate that investors are paying a substantial premium for AMD's expected growth.

Why AMD's 115% rally may have prompted ARK to sell

Active managers like Cathie Wood rebalance based on relative opportunity, not absolute performance. AMD's 115% gain may have pushed it above ARK's target weighting, making the sale a portfolio construction decision rather than a conviction call. Nvidia's CUDA moat and Broadcom's custom chip pipeline may simply offer better risk-adjusted upside from current levels.

A stock that has already delivered 115% gains carries a different risk-reward profile than it did at the start of the year, and your allocation should reflect the price you hold today rather than the price you originally paid.

Risks of selling AMD or holding at this valuation

AMD's data center segment swung from a $155 million operating loss to $2.1 billion in operating income in one year, partly because the prior period included $800 million in export-restriction charges, the SEC filing showed. Adjusting for that one-time drag makes the year-over-year comparison less dramatic than the 107% headline suggests.

Competition from Nvidia's Blackwell platform, custom silicon from Google and Amazon, and the sustainability of AMD's MI355X ramp all represent open questions. Selling alongside ARK means accepting that the rally may have further to run, and the Raymond James $641 target implies another 40% of upside from here.

Bottom line

ARK sold over $92 million in AMD during two sessions in late August and immediately redirected capital into Nvidia and Broadcom. The trades came after AMD surged 115% in 2026 on data center revenue that jumped 107%, even as Raymond James raised its target to $641 with a Strong Buy rating.

Deciding whether to start investing alongside ARK's rotation or alongside Raymond James's upgrade depends on which signal you weight more heavily. A fund manager taking profits at 118 times earnings and two insiders selling through pre-planned arrangements tell one story. A consensus Strong Buy with 41% projected upside tells another. Your portfolio's answer depends on how much of AMD's growth you believe the current price already reflects.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.

You May Also Like

Almost 80% of Americans Fear a Retirement Age Increase — Here’s the Real Reason Why

By FinanceBuzz Editors

10 Smart Money Moves to Retire

By FinanceBuzz Editors

The Easiest Way to Diversify Your Investment Portfolio With Fine Art

By FinanceBuzz Editors

7 Brilliant Ways to Build Wealth After 40

By FinanceBuzz Editors

5 Ways Seniors Are Throwing Away Money

By FinanceBuzz Editors

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts of September 2026

By FinanceBuzz Editors

Help Protect Your Savings From Stock Market Volatility With Gold

American Hartford Gold Benefits

• American Hartford Gold helps individuals protect their retirement by rolling over IRAs and 401(k)s into physical gold.
• Includes FREE IRA rollover and storage for up to 3 years.
• Get up to $20,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases.

Download your guide for free

---

Subscribe Today

Learn how to make an extra $200

Get vetted side hustles and proven ways to earn extra cash sent to your inbox.

or

Subscribe Now →

By submitting this form you agree to receive emails from FinanceBuzz and to the privacy policy and terms