May 16, 2025

Michael Burry, the legendary investor made famous by The Big Short, is once again making headlines — this time for reversing course on Chinese tech stocks.

After building sizable positions in major Chinese firms like Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com, and PDD Holdings in late 2022, Burry’s Scion Asset Management has now shifted gears. In the first quarter of 2025, he slashed his portfolio to just seven stocks and disclosed bearish put options on several Chinese tech names, including:

• Alibaba (BABA)
• Baidu (BIDU)
• JD.com (JD)
• PDD Holdings (PDD)
• Trip.com (TCOM)
• And surprisingly, Nvidia (NVDA)

This change comes despite strong year-to-date gains in many of those Chinese stocks — Alibaba is up 46%, PDD 22%, and Baidu 6%. JD.com, however, lags due to intense competition in food delivery.

Meanwhile, Burry doubled down on U.S. beauty giant Estée Lauder (EL), increasing his stake to 200,000 shares, even as the stock remains down 15% YTD. It did pop nearly 4% after the news broke.

Why the pivot? Likely concerns around renewed geopolitical tensions — especially with President Trump’s recent “Liberation Day” tariff rhetoric — as well as a desire to hedge exposure after a Chinese tech rebound fueled by DeepSeek optimism and regulatory easing.

Burry remains a contrarian at heart, and this move suggests he sees storm clouds ahead — particularly in the high-flying, hype-heavy corners of the market.

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