Cathie Wood sells $12.8 million worth of Alphabet, days after the stock suffered its worst day since its 2004 IPO, losing nearly half a trillion dollars in market value
ARK quietly cut Alphabet right after the stock’s historic rout, and gave no reason. Transactions, a slowdown in searches and a costly AI mode glitch raise the question of what Cathie Wood’s team sees that the market doesn’t.
This article may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has reduced its stake in Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) on Wednesday, November 4. According to CoinCentral’s report on ARK’s daily trading, the company sold 46,164 shares worth $12.8 million through the ARK Innovation ETF (CBOE:ARKK) and the ARK Autonomous Technology and Robotics ETF (CBOE:ARKQ). A smaller sale took place one session earlier. TipRanks reported that ARK sold 12,530 shares of Alphabet stock for approximately $3.5 million on November 3. ARK gave no reason for either transaction.
Alphabet’s record sale came first
Both cuts came the week after the worst session in Alphabet’s history as a public company. On Thursday, October 29, the day after the release of the third quarter report, Class A shares fell 12.64% to close at $283.82. Class C shares fell 12.29%. ARY News, citing Yahoo Finance calculations, estimates Alphabet’s lost market value at around $482 billion. This makes it the worst day since listing in 2004 and the company’s largest single-day dollar loss, well beyond the previous record of around $275 billion on July 23, 2026, according to ARY News. Several media outlets estimate the loss at nearly half a trillion dollars. ARY News ranked it second among US-listed companies, behind the AI chip leader’s loss of around $593 billion on January 27, 2025.
As of 1:38 p.m. ET on November 5, intraday, GOOGL was trading at $283.27. That’s down 1.96% on the day and 12.81% below the Oct. 28 close of $324.89, leaving the stock below its Oct. 29 close.
Why a 25% Revenue Quarter Hit Alphabet Stock
Research was the weak point. According to ARY News, search revenue increased 12% to around $63 billion, below Wall Street’s estimate of $65 billion. TipRanks reported that total revenue rose 25% to $127.6 billion, missing forecasts, while Google Cloud rose 103% to $30.71 billion. Also according to TipRanks, free cash flow has become negative by $9.1 billion due to heavy infrastructure spending, and planned capital spending for 2026 is between $195 billion and $205 billion. GAAP EPS of $2.12 missed the consensus of $2.97. An $8.70 billion loss on equity securities reduced diluted EPS by $0.55, ending a streak of 12 consecutive quarters.
This $195 billion to $205 billion investment plan is telling: The AI business is also a power, cooling and networking business, and we’ve listed seven vendors that are spending in a free report on the companies behind this construction.
During the earnings conference call, Google CEO Philipp Schindler called foreign exchange “the main factor in the deceleration of search compared to the second quarter.” Schindler also highlighted “the low monetization we were seeing in AI mode.” Analysts disagree on what this means. According to Trending Topics citing Yahoo Finance, Pivotal Research’s Jeffrey Wlodarczak sees AI as a threat to search, while CFRA’s Angelo Zino called the decline a likely buying opportunity. Susannah Streeter, of the Wealth Club, told the Daily Mail: “The AI opportunity remains huge, but the market is no longer prepared to give companies a blank check to pursue it. »
ARK also sold Eli Lilly and Amazon and bought Nurix
Per CoinCentral, ARK also sold 8,551 Elie Lilly (NYSE:LLY) for $12.1 million through ARKK, as well as 15,750 Amazon shares for $4.2 million. Lilly is up 29.69% this year and recently raised its 2026 revenue forecast to $91-92 billion.
On the buying side, CoinCentral reported that ARK recovered 350,410 Nurix Therapeutic (NASDAQ:NRIX) for $9.0 million via the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF. A report cited by CoinCentral shows that Nurix fell 38.23% that day. The biotech has cash flow through the second half of 2029, and its DAYBreak phase 3 trial is the next major catalyst. Reports conflict on the day’s largest trade, 348,406 SpaceX shares, by CoinCentral: one says ARK sold them for $49.2 million, and the other says ARK bought them for $47.3 million.
How big are ARK’s alphabet toppings?
ARKK’s latest portfolio filing with the SEC shows that as of July 31, 2026, the fund held 332,338 Class C shares (2.13% of net assets) and 75,789 Class A shares (0.49%). These July figures come ahead of this week’s sales. ARK has traded Alphabet in both directions this year, including buying ahead of the April earnings release.
What Alphabet and ARK Holders Should Watch Next
A leaked transaction shows a shift in position and leaves out reasoning, and ARK gave none here. As of November 5, Alphabet had not recovered its October 29 losses. Management expects a somewhat stronger foreign exchange headwind in the fourth quarter, a significant increase in revenue in 2027 from TPU system sales, and capital expenditures that will increase significantly in 2027. The amount of advertising revenue AI Mode generates per query will shape the next earnings report, and ARK’s daily trading disclosures will show whether this week’s reductions continue.
Contact (email protected) for any questions or corrections.
Gn bussni
