Michael Burry's Scion dumps bearish positions on Tesla, US Treasury bonds in Q3

Saratoga, Calif.-based Scion Asset Management LLC did some major reshuffling in the third quarter as it dumped 18 positions, including all of its option investments, according to the fund manager's latest Form 13F filing.

Scion's total common stock positions were worth $41.7 million at the end of September, down from $136.6 million three months earlier.

The hedge fund, helmed by CEO Michael Burry, completely exited its headline-making bet against automaker Tesla Inc., which had an implied value $731.0 million as of June 30. Tesla's stock gained 14.1% during the third quarter, and has since risen 36.1% in the fourth quarter as of Nov. 16, reaching an all-time high earlier in the month.

The fund also exited a bearish position on long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, a put option against Cathie Wood's ARK ETF Trust - ARK Innovation ETF and two call options in tech giants Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.

In addition, Scion ditched its two largest common stock holdings as of June 30, a $24.8 million stake in media company Discovery Inc. and an $18.9 million position in oil and gas exploration and production company Ovintiv Inc.

Even among the three positions that survived since the second quarter, Scion chopped two by more than half. It left its position in healthcare services/pharmacy CVS Health Corp. unchanged.

Scion initiated three new positions in the quarter, the largest being a $10.4 million stake in aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp.