Michael Burry of 'Big Short' fame ups his bets on Chinese Internet stocks

By Joseph Adinolfi

Burry increases the size of his stakes in Alibaba and Baidu, while trimming other holdings

Michael Burry, the investor made famous by the book and movie "The Big Short," shifted more of his portfolio into Chinese Internet stocks including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. during the second quarter, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission released Wednesday.

An investment in Alibaba (BABA) worth more than $11 million was Burry's largest holding as of June 30. His firm, Scion Asset Management, has been building its holdings of the Chinese e-commerce giant over the past few quarters, with 155,000 shares, according to the filing. The stock was also his firm's biggest equity holding as of the end of the first quarter.

Burry also increased the size of his bet on Baidu (BIDU) by more than 30,000 shares, worth $2 million. He owned 75,000 shares worth $6.5 million as of June 30, the filing showed.

Meanwhile, Burry trimmed his stake in JD.com Inc. (JD), another Chinese Internet company, by 110,000 shares, worth just over $3 million, although the stock still represented one of the largest equity holdings in his portfolio.

Molina Healthcare Inc. (MOH), a California-based managed-care provider, and Shift4 Payments Inc. (FOUR) were also among the top holdings listed in the filing. Burry, who rose to fame when his bet against U.S. mortgage bonds was chronicled by writer Michael Lewis in his book "The Big Short" and in a subsequent film adaptation, also cut or trimmed a number of positions, including investments in Citigroup Inc. (C) and Block Inc. (SQ).

Chinese stocks have mostly lagged their rivals in the U.S. and Japan in 2024, aside from a short-lived rally earlier this year. Alibaba's U.S.-traded American depositary receipts had gained less than 3% in 2024 as of Wednesday afternoon, according to FactSet data.

The KraneShares CSI China Internet exchange-traded fund KWEB has fared even worse, down nearly 4% since Jan. 1 in recent trading.

U.S.-traded ADRs for Baidu were down more than 29% year to date, while JD.com shares have fallen about 10.5%.

The SEC requires all institutional investment managers that hold more than $100 million in certain securities to disclose their positions in 13-F filings.

These filings offer a snapshot of their stocks on the final day of the quarter, while also offering some insight into positions in equity options. But investments in other securities and derivatives, as well as the amount of cash they might have on hand, are not disclosed.

Now read: Large money managers have to disclose their investments. Here's how to find them.

-Joseph Adinolfi

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08-14-24 1610ET

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