The Big Short's Michael Burry Splurges $42M in 5 New Stocks in Q2, Leading With Apparel and Pharma

Scion Asset Management founder and legendary investor Michael Burry is known for betting against the US housing market during the 2008 financial crisis, which netted him $700 million (£518 million) in profits. His contrarian trading approach was chronicled in the award-winning film The Big Short.

Since the global financial crisis, the metalhead's notable investment decisions have also showcased strategic foresight. He invested in water assets, predicting future scarcity, and GameStop (NYSE: GME) before it became a meme stock. He has also wagered against Elon Musk's Tesla, Cathie Wood's Ark Innovation ETF, and BlackRock's iShares Semiconductor ETF, which has Nvidia as one of its top holdings.

In Q1, Burry sold out his entire portfolio, except for one stock, Estee Lauder Companies. However, he trimmed his stake in the beauty company by 25% or 50,000 shares in Q2, according to Scion Asset Management's latest 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The investor also added five more stocks to his portfolio with total purchases worth over $44 million (£32.5 million) for the quarter ended 30th June.

According to the filing, his biggest purchase was 50,000 shares of the apparel company Lululemon Athletica (Nasdaq: LULU) worth $11.8 million (£8.7 million), followed by a $10.3 million (£7.6 million) investment in Bruker Corp (NASDAQ: BRKR), which manufactures scientific instruments for molecular and materials research.

While the Lululemon stock has slumped by over 54% year-to-date, the most recent stock movement shows it has climbed over 8.4% in the past five days to $173.4 (£128.3). Meanwhile, Bruker stock is also down 44% since the start of this year, and gained a meagre 2.2% in the past five trading days to close at $32.7 (£24.2) on Monday.

Burry also poured $7.8 million (£5.7 million) into Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: REGN), which recently received regulatory backing for Dupixent to treat chronic spontaneous urticaria in the European Union. While the stock gained over 4% in the past five days to $595.6 (£440.7), it is still down 16.3% YTD.

The investor's next stock pick was MercadoLibre (Nasdaq: MELI), buying 15,000 shares for a total of $7.8 million. The Argentine company, headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, operates online marketplaces dedicated to e-commerce and online auctions. The stock has performed quite well, rising 44.7% YTD to close at $2,460 (£1,820) on Monday. It recorded double-digit, year-over-year growth in Q2 earnings and a massive 25% rise in daily active users. The company is expanding its financial services through various initiatives, including the acquisition of Nikos DTVM. More recently, MercadoLibre launched a new B2B segment to tap into corporate markets.

Burry's last stock pick was UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH). He bought 20,000 shares of the health insurance and care services provider for $6.2 million (£4.5 million). While the stock has declined 32.5% YTD following the death of Brian Thompson in December 2024, it appears to have found its footing with an 11% gain over the past month to $341.3 (£252.3). Recently, UBS raised its price target on the stock to $378 (£279) per share and maintained its buy rating on the stock.

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