Cathie Wood’s Bargain Bin: A Growth Investor’s Hail Mary?

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Okay, let’s talk about Cathie Wood. She’s basically the Marie Kondo of growth stocks – except instead of sparking joy, these stocks are sparking… concern. Figma, CoreWeave, Recursion – they’ve all taken a tumble. Like, a serious tumble. We’re talking 52%, 82%, and 72% off their 2025 highs. It’s less “disruption” and more “disintegrated.” And now, Ms. Wood is doubling down. It’s either brilliant foresight or the investing equivalent of throwing good money after bad. Honestly, it’s a fascinating case study in momentum versus, well, gravity.

1. Figma: The Design Darling in Distress

Figma. It sounds so chic, doesn’t it? Like a Scandinavian furniture company that also happens to make software. But lately, it’s been less “hygge” and more “huge problem.” The entire SaaS sector is having a moment—a “what was I thinking?” moment. Everyone’s suddenly worried AI will render perfectly good, expensive software obsolete. It’s the same panic we had when everyone thought calculators would make us forget how to add. Except this time, it might actually be true.

Figma, being a design platform, is right in the crosshairs. It went public with a lot of hype, soared even higher, and now… well, it’s trading below its IPO price. It’s like that dress you bought for a party, wore once, and now it’s hanging in the back of your closet, mocking you. The recent earnings report wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t exactly a rave review either. Revenue growth slowed, but they’re still growing, just… less quickly. And in this market, “less quickly” is basically a red flag. But Wood is buying. She’s seeing something. Or maybe she just really likes the color scheme.

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2. CoreWeave: The Hyperscaler with a Headache

CoreWeave is the kind of company that sounds like it belongs in a sci-fi movie. It’s a hyperscaler, which basically means it builds data centers for people who need a lot of computing power. Think AI, machine learning, the Metaverse… all those things that are either going to save the world or bankrupt us. It had a hot IPO, soared even higher, and now it’s… you guessed it, down significantly. It’s not a broken IPO like Figma, but it’s definitely lost its luster.

The pitch is simple: AI needs power, and CoreWeave provides it. It’s the pick-and-shovel play of the AI gold rush. Except gold rushes tend to end with a lot of empty pockets and broken dreams. Still, CoreWeave is growing revenue at a crazy rate. Analysts expect that to continue. They’re reporting earnings this week, so we’ll see if the hype matches the reality. Wood is betting it will. I suspect she’s hoping for a little less “shovel” and a little more “gold.”

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3. Recursion Pharmaceuticals: The AI Drug Discovery Gamble

Recursion Pharmaceuticals is where things get really interesting. This is a techbio company that’s using AI to try and rewrite the drug discovery process. It’s a noble goal, but also incredibly difficult. Nvidia, the AI chip giant, invested $50 million a few summers ago. It was a smart move at the time. Nvidia was riding high, and Recursion was a promising startup. But Nvidia just cashed out. That’s… a signal. Not necessarily a death knell, but definitely a raised eyebrow.

The stock initially dropped on the news, but then… bounced back. Which is weird. It suggests that investors aren’t entirely spooked. Or maybe they just figured Nvidia needed the money for more GPUs. Regardless, Recursion is still losing a lot of money, and revenue hasn’t really moved in the right direction. Wood is buying, presumably because she believes in the long-term potential of AI-powered drug discovery. It’s a high-risk, high-reward bet. And frankly, in this market, that’s about all there is left.

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2026-02-22 18:15