Michael Burry disclosed on Tuesday that he has initiated a short position against Caterpillar Inc, arguing the construction-equipment manufacturer has become overpriced as markets treat it as a proxy for artificial intelligence infrastructure investment.
The investor said he shorted Caterpillar shares at $1,060.98. In the same disclosure he said he opened new short positions in Nvidia Corp, Applied Materials Inc, Tesla Inc and the iShares Semiconductor ETF.
Posting on SubStack on Tuesday, Burry singled out Caterpillar for attention. "Caterpillar jumped out at me," he wrote. "I have never shorted Caterpillar. It has always done great for me on the long side in the past."
He noted that Caterpillar finished the first half of 2026 with an 86% gain, placing it among the top performers in the S&P 500 for the period. Investors have increasingly used the company as a means of gaining exposure to what they view as global AI infrastructure development.
Burry said the stock’s valuation reached levels that prompted his trade. He shared a chart indicating that Caterpillar’s price-to-sales ratio climbed to the highest point in at least three decades as the share price hit record peaks.
"The proximate cause of today’s rally is big spending announced out of Korea. Well, I see that as the beginning of the end," Burry wrote. "It is only a matter of time now."
The moves extend beyond Caterpillar to names directly tied to AI hardware and electric vehicles. According to Burry’s disclosure, his new short positions include Nvidia, Applied Materials and Tesla, as well as the iShares Semiconductor ETF.
This disclosure highlights an investor response to valuation metrics and investor positioning: in Burry’s view, certain stocks have been bid up in part because the market is treating them as routes to play AI infrastructure spending. His commentary and charting were presented as the rationale for the short positions he established.
Contextual note: The information above is drawn from Burry’s public disclosure on SubStack and his commentary regarding valuation and a chart he shared; it reflects the positions and views he stated without additional interpretation or outside data.