Michael Burry Shorts Nvidia, Tesla, Caterpillar in AI Bubble Bet

Michael Burry is back on the short side of the AI trade. The Big Short investor disclosed a fresh basket of shorts on Tuesday targeting semiconductors, EVs, and AI-adjacent industrials, arguing valuations have reached extremes not seen since the dot-com era.

The Positions

In a Substack post, Burry laid out short entries in Caterpillar (CAT), Nvidia (NVDA), Applied Materials (AMAT), Tesla (TSLA), and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX).

The entries: Caterpillar at $1,060.98, Nvidia at $198.09, SOXX at $642.80, and Applied Materials at $729.40. On Tesla, Burry wrote that he shorted at $416.22 and was “happy it jumped back to this level,” indicating he initiated after the stock’s sharp rally.

The Thesis: A Chip Bubble

Burry pointed to the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index trading about 65% above its 200-day moving average, a level last seen in the dot-com bubble. He interpreted the large-scale semiconductor investment plans recently announced by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix as a signal that the AI rally has peaked.

Burry said Caterpillar’s valuation has reached levels he cannot ignore, with the price-to-sales ratio at its highest point in at least 30 years. “Caterpillar jumped out at me. I have never shorted Caterpillar. It has always done great for me on the long side in the past,” he wrote.

Do you want to see how to make more plays? Do you want to find gains yourself?

Unusual Whales helps you find market opportunities through our market tide, historical options flow, GEX, and much, much more.

Create a free account here to start conquering the market with Unusual Whales.

Why Caterpillar Matters Here

Caterpillar has been one of the S&P 500’s top stocks in 2026, up over 86% in the first half of the year as investors treat the heavy equipment maker as a proxy for global AI infrastructure spending. That is the tell. Burry isn’t just shorting chips, he’s shorting the picks-and-shovels trade built around them.

The Tesla Caveat

Burry did not disclose the size of the Tesla position. Nothing in the post indicates a dollar figure, a share count, or an options structure for the TSLA short specifically. That’s worth flagging, because his Tesla bets have a long history of being overstated. Unlike his well-documented Nvidia and Palantir positions, which are built from dated put options with specific strikes, Tuesday’s disclosure simply says he shorted the shares.

Tesla shares had closed at $379.71 the prior session before climbing about 10% on Tuesday, suggesting Burry used the rebound to establish the position rather than betting into a decline.

Options market and stocks to watch

Traders will want to watch how flow reacts to a named short seller of Burry’s profile hitting these tapes:

• NVDA: watch for put activity and skew shifts around the $198 disclosure level.
• TSLA: watch how the tape treats the $416 area after the 10% rip, and whether hedgers press downside.
• CAT: watch for unusual options flow given the price-to-sales stretch and the AI-infrastructure narrative.
• AMAT: watch for semi-cap sympathy moves tied to SOXX positioning.
• SOXX: watch the ETF’s put/call skew as a broad read on chip sentiment.

Want more market intelligence? Create your free Unusual Whales account for options flow, market tide, GEX, and the full toolkit.