Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management, famed for its prescient bet against the US housing market as depicted in the 2015 film "The Big Short," has made significant changes to its investment portfolio in the third quarter of the year. The hedge fund has liquidated $1.6 billion in bearish positions against major stock market indices but has maintained a substantial wager on the semiconductor sector, which has seen robust growth this year.
As of September 30, Scion's most prominent holding was a $47 million put option on the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX). This position accounts for nearly half of the fund's total portfolio and is a bet on potential declines in the semiconductor industry, which has otherwise surged by 42% since January 1. SOXX includes major players such as Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN).
Burry’s move away from broad market shorts against US stocks like the $416 billion SPY and $207 billion QQQ came after these indexes experienced a downturn in Q3, despite their overall strong performance throughout 2023. This suggests that Burry's earlier bets may have been profitable.
The latest portfolio adjustments bring Scion's holdings to approximately $99 million, a figure close to its reported $107 million in assets at the end of March. These strategic shifts were revealed in the mandatory 13F filings with the SEC. In a related development, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) also reported reducing its stakes in several major US companies during the same period.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.