Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies Inc., a Silicon Valley big data analyst, expressed deep dissatisfaction with short sellers and directly named Michael Burry, the protagonist of the movie "Big Short" and a well-known hedge fund manager who shorted real estate-backed securities before the 2008 global financial crisis, saying that his short selling of Palantir and NVIDIA Corp. was "super weird."
CNBC reported that Karp said in an exclusive interview with the CNBC program "Squawk Box" on the 4th that Berry "chosen to short the two companies that happened to be companies that are currently making a lot of money. This is really weird." "The idea of shorting chips and ontology (referring to Palantir's enterprise data integration model) is really crazy."
Karp added, "He (referring to Berry) is shorting AI…… The target is us and NVIDIA."
After being contacted by CNBC via email, Berry declined to respond to Karp’s statement.
Although Palantir announced excellent financial results after the market closed on the 3rd and raised its full-year forecast, its stock price jumped 7.94% to close at $190.74 on the 4th as investors worried about overvaluation. Since the beginning of the year, Palantir's stock price has increased as much as 152.2%. Palantir's forward price-to-earnings ratio has exceeded 200 times.
NVIDIA fell 3.96% simultaneously on the 4th to close at $198.69; it has risen 47.96% so far this year.
The 13-F announcement submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Scion Asset Management, managed by Berry, on November 3 shows that during the third quarter (July-September), 5 million new Palantir puts were added, with a total value of US$912.1 million, accounting for 66% of the overall investment portfolio; 1 million new NVIDIA puts were added, with a total value of US$186.58 million, accounting for 13.5% of the investment portfolio.
It is unclear whether Berry profited from the decline in the stock prices of Palantir and NVIDIA on the 4th. The above 13-F filing only reflects Berry's investment positions as of the end of September, and he may have adjusted his portfolio now.
Karp said on the 4th, "It's not even clear whether he is still shorting us. He may just be thinking, 'How to close the position without looking like a fool?'"
Further reading: Michael Berry warns of AI spending bubble, buying Palantir/NVIDIA options