Michael Burry, best known for calling the subprime mortgage crisis, reshuffled his bets on Chinese internet stocks last quarter, trimming holdings in Alibaba and JD.com and adding a new stake in PDD . Burry’s hedge fund, Scion Asset Management, cut its stake in Alibaba by 25% in the fourth quarter, according to a new filing. The Jack Ma-founded company was still the biggest holding at the end of 2024, worth $12.7 million. Scion also reduced its JD.com stake by 40% to a bet worth $10.4 million at the end of December. The famed investor added a $7.3 million bet on PDD, operator of online retailer Temu, in the fourth quarter. The stake in Chinese search engine Baidu was unchanged at $11 million at the end of 2024. Outside of China, Burry took a new bet on beauty brand Estee Lauder , while building new positions in healthcare-related names including Molina Healthcare , HCA Healthcare and biotech firm Bruker. Last year, Beijing’s signal for massive fiscal support prompted many investors to revisit the emerging market. Appaloosa’s David Tepper notably turned extremely bullish on China, saying he was buying “everything” related to the country because of the government’s aid. Chinese policymakers have already cut interest rates to boost growth, and investors now await more detail on the nation’s promised stimulus measures , which could target areas including weak consumer demand and the struggling real estate market. The world’s second-largest economy beat forecasts with 5.4% growth in the final quarter of 2024, but significant concerns remain over deflation and the potential effects of President Donald Trump’s new 10% tariffs on Chinese imports. Beijing has responded with targeted retaliatory duties and vowed to take measures to protect its interests in the face of “bullying.” Burry shot to fame by betting against mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 global financial crisis . Burry was depicted in Michael Lewis’ book ” The Big Short ” and the subsequent Oscar-winning movie of the same name.
