Is The Bull Run Over For Nvidia– 'The Big Short' Investor Michael Burry Taking Up Short Positions

Investors have followed Michael Burry’s trades ever since he predicted the financial crisis of 2008 and profited from it by taking up short positions. The man still known to many as “The Big Short” investor is making headlines for his bearish outlook on one of the world’s biggest tech stocks. Benzinga examines why Burry has taken short positions on Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA).

Nvidia shares have spent much of the last 18 months on a bull run powered by AI’s emergence as the world’s hottest investment sector. As recently as May 2023, Nvidia shares were trading in the $35 range. Then it became clear that Nvidia’s graphics processors and chipsets were mission-critical components in AI development, and the company’s stock was off to the races.

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Nvidia shares increased from around $40 in January 2024 to $147.16 by early November. The company’s market cap grew to an astonishing $3 trillion, and CEO Jensen Huang achieved near celebrity status as his company gate-crashed the S&P 500 Magnificent Seven. That kind of explosion in share price and market cap made Nvidia one of the biggest stories of 2024, but Burry knows what goes up must come down.

Barchart is reporting that Burry’s Scion Asset Management has numerous put options in Nvidia. Beyond that, the water gets a little murky in terms of predicting Burry’s long game. Barchart compiled the option data from Scion’s March 13F filings, but those filings include multiple shorts. Scion is also betting against Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Baidu, and Tripadvisor.com (NASDAQ: TRIP). The filings only note that the combined total of Scion’s shorts is $199 million.

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There is no information about expiration dates or strike prices, and the filings don’t disclose whether Scion has long positions on Nvidia or the other stocks it’s shorting. All this makes it difficult to decipher whether Burry has completely soured on Nvidia. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have rattled multiple economic sectors, especially tech and retail, where Nvidia and Alibaba operate.

Like many tech companies, Nvidia is heavily dependent on Chinese components, and jitters over the tariffs saw its shares slump to the $90 range in late March. Trump is still negotiating with China, and Nvidia has rebounded to $135.50 per share. The next shoe to drop will be quarterly earnings, which Burry may be expecting to fall short of projections. 

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So, the pressing question for investors is whether Burry is simply hedging with these short bets or believes Nvidia is overpriced and due for a correction. He has a proven knack for getting out of high-performing positions before the bottom drops, and these shorts could be part of that trend. However, the fact that Burry and Scion have $199 million in shorts spread across multiple positions may indicate that Burry is guarding against the downside.

With that said, Burry shorting Nvidia should give investors cause to assess their long-term positions and goals with this stock. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for Nvidia’s earnings report and news on the tariff negotiations. Both of those will have a significant impact on Burry’s next moves with Nvidia.

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