Michael Burry, the famed investor whose prescient bets against the U.S. housing market were chronicled in "The Big Short," has seen a significant payoff from his latest round of bearish wagers. Following a sharp market sell-off in July, several of the high-flying stocks he targeted experienced substantial declines, validating his short positions.
Burry revealed in a June 30 Substack post that he had established short positions in major companies including Caterpillar, Nvidia, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF, Applied Materials, and Tesla. Short positions are a strategic bet on declining stock prices, involving borrowing shares, selling them, and repurchasing them later at a lower price to profit from the difference.
His most notable success thus far has been with Tesla. The electric vehicle giant's shares plummeted 15% on a recent Thursday after a disappointing quarterly earnings report, extending its July decline to approximately 24% and bringing the stock to $319.69. Burry had initiated his Tesla short at a higher price of $416.22 in late June.
Caterpillar, the construction equipment manufacturer, also moved sharply in Burry's favor. Its stock dropped about 16% this month, falling to $894.54 from his disclosed short entry point of $1,060.98. Interestingly, Burry noted in his June post, "I have never shorted Caterpillar. It has always done great for me on the long side in the past."
The investor's bearish calls on the semiconductor sector have yielded mixed outcomes. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF has decreased to around $551 from Burry's stated short entry of $642.80, and Applied Materials saw its price fall to roughly $562.80 from $729.40. However, Nvidia proved resilient, climbing to about $208.76 from the $198.09 level where Burry shorted it.
Overall, four out of his five publicly disclosed trades have moved favorably. This trend aligns with a broader market pullback in high-flying industrial and technology shares, which had enjoyed a powerful first-half rally fueled by enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence and related infrastructure investments.
On Friday, Burry reiterated his commitment to his bearish outlook, disclosing that he had increased several of his positions. He confirmed he has not covered his Tesla short, stating it "gets smaller all on its own." Furthermore, he added to his Caterpillar short at $893.49 and increased his Nvidia short at $210.28. Regarding Nvidia, he emphasized, "I continue to hold puts in good size," expressing skepticism about current and future demand drivers. He posited that "much and possibly most [demand] is financed, off-balance sheet and not lit. Future revenues are majority financed in a circular arrangement, per the 2026 BIS annual repot." The investor also augmented his short position in the VanEck Semiconductor ETF at $535.83, initiated a new short in Micron Technology at $933.86, and continues to hold a substantial position in Nvidia put options.
