Michael Burry Is Shorting Nvidia Heading Into Earnings, Here’s What He’s Buying Instead

AJ Tiarsmith

Mon, August 24, 2026 at 3:36 PM GMT+3 5 min read

Quick Read

Burry called LULU "screaming cheap," doubling his stake to 17.4% of his portfolio while shorting NVDA at a $5.2 trillion valuation.
Burry's short book extends to QQQ and SOXX, but he refuses to short AAPL, calling it "permacostly" despite its rich valuation.
With 29 of 34 analysts rating LULU a Hold, Burry's contrarian bet on its forward P/E of 11 stands nearly alone on Wall Street.
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Michael Burry is heading into the most important earnings report of the AI cycle positioned against it. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) reports fiscal Q2 2027 results on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, after the market close, and the Scion Asset Management founder spent the weekend on his Substack, Cassandra Unchained, defending a very different kind of stock. His comments were reported by Stocktwits reporter Prabhjote Gill on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026.

Shutterstock / rafapress

These were self-disclosures in a paid Substack chat, made in the days leading up to the single biggest quarterly release on the calendar for the AI trade. Riding a mania is one thing and planning the exit is another, which is exactly what we walked through in a free bubble survivor's handbook.

Burry's Short Book Going Into Wednesday

Burry has publicly discussed short positions involving Nvidia, Micron Technology, Oracle, Nebius, the iShares Semiconductor ETF and the Invesco QQQ Trust. That spans the AI capex complex, from the GPU designer to the memory supplier, the hyperscale software partner, the neocloud, and the two index vehicles most exposed to the theme.

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Nvidia enters the report richly valued and richly expected. The stock closed Friday at $214.72, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $5.2 trillion at a trailing P/E of 33. Last quarter, Nvidia posted revenue of $81.61 billion, up 85.23% year over year, with Data Center revenue of $75.25 billion and non-GAAP gross margin of 75.0%. Management guided Q2 to $91.0 billion, plus or minus 2%, a number that excludes any Data Center compute revenue from China. The full Q1 FY27 release is on file with the SEC.

NVDA Earnings Explorer — 24/7 Wall St.

What Burry Is Actually Buying

The centerpiece of his long book is Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU). Burry wrote on Substack, "I believe LULU is screaming cheap here."

A reader in the Substack chat observed that he appeared to have nearly doubled his LULU position, and that it now accounts for 17.4% of his holdings versus 9% for Molina Healthcare, after adding to both. Tracking of his Substack disclosures also suggests larger long positions in Zoetis, MercadoLibre, JD.com and Adobe. Burry has said he moved his Alibaba position entirely into JD.com and would need Alibaba to fall by half before reconsidering.

Why Lululemon Trades Where It Does

Lululemon closed Friday at $121.07. As of that Aug. 21 close, the stock was down 41.74% year to date, down 38.91% over one year, and down 69.57% over five years. It was up 6.79% over the prior month and up 4.65% in the Friday session itself. That Friday gain settled before Burry's weekend comments surfaced.

The reasons for the drawdown are in the company's own numbers. Per Stocktwits reporting on Q1 2026, revenue rose 4% to $2.5 billion, Americas revenue fell 3%, and comparable sales in the Americas declined 5%. International revenue increased 22%. The company also cut its full-year 2026 outlook to revenue of $11 billion to $11.15 billion, from a previous $11.35 billion to $11.5 billion, and cut EPS guidance to $10.95 to $11.15 from $12.10 to $12.30.

Wall Street Is Not With Him

Per Koyfin data cited by Stocktwits, 29 of the 34 analysts covering Lululemon rate it a Hold, with one at Buy, and the average price target is $127.92. That aligns with the Alpha Vantage consensus target of $127.92 and a forward P/E of 11. Burry is nearly alone on this call.

His Prior Case for the Name

Burry has previously argued that investors became too pessimistic on Lululemon, pointing to tangible book value per share, which he said doubled from roughly $20 to $40 over three years. He compared the market's treatment of the stock to GameStop in 2019, and argued that Lululemon's relative value was more compelling than some large technology stocks including Microsoft.

Apple Is a Different Case

Burry was asked when he might short Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and declined. His comment: "It is like Costco. Once in a blue moon I take my chances. It's just permacostly." For Apple, Burry treats valuation as a reason to stay out of the stock while also keeping it off his short book. Apple closed Friday at $309.35, up 38.06% over one year and up 14.10% year to date, and last reported nine consecutive EPS beats, with Q3 FY26 EPS of $2.02 on revenue of $109.42 billion.

Two Days Out

Burry is short the biggest name in AI hardware and long a beaten-down apparel retailer that most of Wall Street will not touch above Hold. Nvidia's put/call ratio across the full options chain sits at 0.60, and the December 2026 expiration is above 1.29, indicating heavier put positioning further out. Wednesday's release will land into that setup.