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Michael Burry AI put options — SOXX, Micron, Palantir, Nebius shorts converted to levered puts
Photo: Yahoo Finance

SOXX Falls 2.1% as Burry Converts AI Shorts to Levered Puts

Yahoo Finance2 min read5 sources

Why is SOXX falling today?

iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell 2.1% to $562 on Tuesday after Michael Burry converted his AI short positions to levered put options on Micron, Palantir, Nebius, and SOXX, citing a near-record CAPE ratio of 42.56.

Key numbers

Burry put notional (prior disclosure, Sep 17)~$1.1B50,000 PLTR contracts ($912M) + 10,000 NVDA contracts (~$186.6M) [3]
CAPE ratio (Burry-cited figure)42.56+144% above the 156-year average of 17.40 [4]
1999 all-time CAPE peak44.19Only 3.9% above the Sep 2026 reading [5]
Ares AI financing web (mapped by Burry)$573B26 disclosed deals over prior 12 months [2]
Micron (MU) year-to-date gain+276%NBIS +175%, SOXX +100%, PLTR +0.34% YTD [1]
Nvidia H100 GPU residual value-51%decline over three years, per Ares research [2]

What happened

iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell 2.1% to $562 on Tuesday after Michael Burry converted his AI short positions to levered put options on Micron, Palantir, Nebius, and SOXX, citing a near-record CAPE ratio of 42.56. Burry announced the shift via his Substack newsletter, saying the AI bubble may burst "sooner than later" and describing Nebius as "what the top of a boom looks like". He cited Ares Management research mapping $573 billion in AI financings across 26 deals, warning the entire web assumes unproven revenue that could trigger cascading guarantees if spending slows. Micron (MU) fell 2.8% and Nebius (NBIS) dropped 2.3%, though both stocks remain up 276% and 175% year-to-date.

Why it matters

SOXX and the broader AI chip sector matter to ordinary investors because they represent some of the biggest stock gains of the past three years — gains that look fragile if Burry is right. The CAPE ratio at 42.56 means U.S. stocks are priced nearly 2.5 times their long-run average, a level last exceeded only at the 1999 dot-com peak. Behind the share prices sits a $573 billion AI financing web that could unravel if the revenue those deals count on never arrives.

Who this affects

Marketbearish
Medium impact
AI chip stocks and semiconductor ETFs fell broadly on Tuesday.
Companybearish
Medium impact
Micron, Palantir, Nebius face renewed selling pressure from Burry's levered bet.
Competitorsmixed
Low impact
Nvidia rose 1.7% Tuesday while AMD and SMH fell alongside Burry's targets.
Industrybearish
High impact
AI sector faces bubble scrutiny as a high-profile investor upgrades his bearish wager.

SOXX vs Micron, Palantir, Nebius

SOXX (iShares Semi ETF)SOXX-2.1%+100%$20B AUMSep 2027
Micron TechnologyMU-2.8%+276%~$940BJun 2027
Palantir TechnologiesPLTR-1.6%+0.34%~$410BSep 2027
Nebius GroupNBIS:NASDAQ-2.3%+175%~$9BJun 2027

As of 2026-09-29

How we got here

  1. 247WallSt flags CAPE at 42.56, near 150-year record; Burry warns of bubble.

  2. Burry discloses ~$1.1B in puts: 50,000 PLTR contracts, 10,000 NVDA contracts.

  3. Burry posts Substack: converts all direct AI shorts to levered puts, cites Ares $573B web.

  4. SOXX -2.1%, MU -2.8%, NBIS -2.3%, PLTR -1.6% at Tuesday open.

What to watch

  • Hyperscaler Q3 2026 earnings: Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta AI capex guidance.Q4 2026
  • CAPE ratio: a move to 44.19 would break the 1999 all-time record.Q4 2026
  • CoreWeave (CRWV): Burry sought puts but could not acquire at attractive pricing.Q4 2026

Educational content only. Not investment advice.

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