#大空头加码做空AI芯片 I. Core Event: “The Big Short” Doubles Down
Michael Burry, the inspiration for the film The Big Short, has recently increased his short positions in the AI chip sector once again. On July 25, 2026, local time, he disclosed his latest holdings on Substack:
· Micron Technology: Further increased short positions at $933.86/share
· NVIDIA: Increased short positions at $210.28/share
· Philadelphia Semiconductor ETF (SOXX): Increased short positions at $535.83/share
· Initiated a new short position in Caterpillar (CAT)
· Maintained short positions in Tesla and Palantir, along with put options on the Nasdaq 100 ETF
This is not Burry’s first move. In early July, he warned that the U.S. semiconductor sector could face a correction of approximately 30%, initially shorting Micron at $1,051.87. The latest increase has been interpreted by the market as a “further escalation” of his bearish conviction.
II. Core Short Thesis: Questioning the “Authenticity” of Demand
Burry’s bearish thesis is based on fundamental doubts about the authenticity of demand for AI infrastructure investment:
Core argument: NVIDIA’s substantial current and future demand is not coming from actual end customers, but is instead being driven in a cycle through off-balance-sheet financing arrangements. “Most future revenue will be financed through circular arrangements,” with the related financing arrangements kept off the balance sheet and undisclosed. He cites the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) 2026 annual report in support.
Industry outlook: Burry views Samsung Electronics and SK hynix’s capital expenditure expansion plans as the “beginning of the semiconductor industry’s shift from prosperity to decline.” He believes that much of the capital expenditure in the current AI infrastructure investment boom does not correspond to genuine end-user demand, but instead circulates through opaque financing structures.
In short, Burry is not shorting AI technology itself, but overstretched valuations—AI may be real, but stock prices have already discounted several years of future expectations into today’s prices.
III. The Market’s Immediate Reaction
After Burry made his move, the market reacted quickly:
· On July 24, U.S. Eastern Time, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged more than 4%, with all 30 constituents closing lower. Arm fell more than 8%, Intel fell more than 7%, and Micron Technology fell more than 6%.
· Storage-related stocks fell sharply across the board. The Roundhill Storage ETF fell more than 8%, SanDisk fell more than 10%, and SK hynix ADRs fell more than 8%.
· In the two days after the news broke, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 12% cumulatively, while NVIDIA fell 16% over two days.
Meanwhile, Moody’s also warned in its latest report that the AI infrastructure construction race, which consumes nearly $1 trillion annually, is eroding the free cash flow of “hyperscale cloud service providers.”
IV. The Shadow of History: The Warning of the 2000 Internet Bubble
Burry’s latest short positions recall the internet bubble of 2000. At the time, the belief that “the internet would change the world” was completely correct, but that did not prevent related stocks from losing 80% to 90% of their value over the following two years.
Getting the direction right does not mean getting the price right; having a story does not mean the current valuation is reasonable. This is the core of Burry’s consistent investment philosophy—he accurately predicted the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis through deep insight into the “structural fragility beneath apparent prosperity.”
Of course, Burry is not right every time. His previous bearish calls have also failed on multiple occasions. The market’s strong reaction to his remarks is less about complete faith in his judgment than the fact that many people already have a nerve taut inside them—the rally has been too fast and lasted too long, and everyone wants to be the person who exits early.
V. The Essence of the Long-Short Battle: An “Earnings Exam”
The biggest contradiction in the current AI chip market is that genuine industry growth and excessively high stock valuations can exist simultaneously. Data center construction does require large quantities of advanced chips, and demand for computing power from AI model training and inference remains strong; however, the market has set extremely high expectations for leading companies, and even slightly disappointing earnings could cause significant share-price volatility.
The essence of the short thesis is an “expectations gap”—if a company’s profits are growing rapidly but the market has priced the company for even faster growth, then even a strong earnings report could send the stock lower for being “not impressive enough.”
But short sellers are not inherently right. If the AI industry achieves new application breakthroughs and companies continue increasing capital expenditure, short positions could instead become “fuel” for a rally—forced covering by short sellers would push prices even higher.
As one analysis pointed out, the Big Short’s increased positions should be understood more as an expansion of market disagreement than as evidence that the rally has ended. The AI chip sector has not entered a “life-or-death battle,” but rather an increasingly intense earnings exam.
VI. Burry’s Hedging Strategy: Long-Short Positioning
It is worth noting that Burry is not simply shorting indiscriminately. While shorting AI chips, he has shifted long capital toward the consumer and healthcare sectors, which have relatively low correlation with the technology boom:
· Bought Flutter Entertainment at $100.72/share
· Bought DraftKings at $23.07/share
· Increased his position in Molina Healthcare, bought at $197.02/share
He views Flutter and DraftKings together as “a bet on prediction markets,” with the two positions combined constituting one of his larger holdings. This two-way long-short positioning reflects his overall assessment of the current market structure—technology stocks are overvalued, while consumer and healthcare stocks are relatively safer.
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Burry’s increased short positions in AI chips are essentially a challenge to the “authenticity of demand” for AI infrastructure investment, as well as a judgment that high valuations are unsustainable. The move has amplified market disagreement and anxiety, but the AI industry’s long-term trend and short-term valuation bubble are not mutually exclusive. For investors, rather than fixating on “who wins between the longs and shorts,” it is better to focus on three core variables: whether AI capital expenditure continues to grow, whether chip orders remain strong, and whether corporate profits can continue to materialize. If fundamentals remain strong, short sellers will merely create volatility; if fundamentals begin to weaken, short sellers may gain more control.