Ark Invest buys $5.5 million worth of Circle shares as stock jumps 16% on Q1 earnings

Cathie Wood-led investment firm Ark Invest bought approximately $5.5 million in Circle shares across three of its exchange-traded funds on Monday, as the stock surged 16% following its first-quarter earnings results.

Ark purchased a total of 41,904 shares of Circle Internet Group for its Innovation (ARKK), Next Generation Internet (ARKW), and Blockchain and Fintech Innovation (ARKF) ETFs, according to the company's May 11 trading report.

The latest purchases marked Ark's first Circle buy since March 24, as the firm typically adjusts its holdings so that no single stock exceeds 10% of a fund's portfolio. This means Ark would actively rebalance weightings when the value of certain assets fluctuates significantly.

According to the firm's latest disclosures, Circle ranks as the sixth-largest holding in its ARKK ETF, with a 4.6% weighting and a market value of $306.5 million, behind Tesla, Advanced Micro Devices, CRISPR Therapeutics, Tempus AI, and Roku.

Circle is also the fourth-largest holding in ARKW, with a 4.58% weighting worth $82.3 million, and the second-largest holding in ARKF, with a 6.66% weighting valued at $56 million.

Circle stock surges

Circle's shares jumped 15.91% to close at $131.76 on Monday. The stock has surged 49.7% over the past month and remains up 66.2% year-to-date.

Earlier Monday morning, Circle disclosed its Q1 2026 results, reporting $694 million in total revenue, up 20% year-on-year. Its net income fell 15% year-on-year to $55 million.

Meanwhile, onchain USDC (USDC) transaction volume grew 263% year-on-year to reach $21.5 trillion for the quarter, while USDC in circulation rose 28% to $77 billion at quarter-end.