Much has been said about some of Michael Burry’s recent relatively questionable stock market decisions such as the bet on the Chinese technology and e-commerce giant, Alibaba (NASDAQ: BABA), or his bet against the U.S. semiconductor industry in spite of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
And yet, the investor made famous by “The Big Short” during the 2008 financial crisis closed his bet against the microchip sector before the end of 2023 and, despite its struggles, Alibaba is far from the biggest loser in the Scion Asset Management portfolio.
With this in mind and having looked at some of Burry’s most successful holdings in 2024, Finbold decided to find just which of the famous investor’s stocks is the biggest loser this year so far.
Picks for you
Big Lots Inc (NYSE: BIG)
Big Lots Inc (NYSE: BIG), a U.S. chain of discount stores, found its stock in Michael Burry’s portfolio in the last quarter of 2023 – the latest trimester for which a 13-f filing is available.
The company is notable as it has, except for a brief but significant rally, mostly been falling in the stock market, and for offering only a brief window in Q4 2023 during which Burry could have bought the shares and not ended up in the red by March 25, 2024.
indeed, Big Lots entered last October worth approximately $4.71, surged to $8.10 by late December, and entered into a protracted downtrend. The last six months saw BIG decline 21.95% and, year-to-date (YTD), the company’s shares are 52.82% in the red.
The more recent performance doesn’t provide more room for optimism as Big Lot stock is down 14.71% on the monthly chart and 0.26% on the weekly chart. The last full trading day – Friday, March 22, saw BIG drop 6.22% to $3.77.
Burry is likely to have lost money on his 225,000 BIG shares due to their decline which was largely driven by a net loss that exceeded $400 million in 2023.
In the worst-case scenario – one in which the famous investor bought at the last trimester’s peak near $8 – Michael Burry is down, just under $1 million.
On the other hand, if “The Big Short” investor bought at just the right time – near $3.60 in early November – he is approximately $30,000 in the green on the bet.
Will Big Lots stock recover?
Finally, Big Lots stock is also interesting as few, apart from Michael Burry, appear to show confidence in his ability to end the downtrend.
Out of the 6 analysts represented on TradingView, for example, only 1 rates the company as a “strong buy,” while 3 consider it a “strong sell.” The last 2 experts are neutral when it comes to BIG.
The 12-month price targets are similarly nothing to write home about. On average, analysts believe Big Lots stock will rise 6.10% to $4, while the highest estimate would see it negate the Q1, 2024 losses by climbing 59% to $6.
On the other hand, the lowest forecast considers it likely BIG will crash another 73.47% to $1.
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Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
