Michael Burry's Scion bearish on Apple, sells out of prison stocks in Q1

Saratoga, Calif.-based Scion Asset Management LLC's latest Form 13F filing revealed an almost complete portfolio overhaul in the first quarter, an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis found.

Scion Asset Management began operations in 2013 and is led by Michael Burry, who became famous for his prescient bearish bets against the U.S. housing market before the real estate collapse more than a decade ago.

The hedge fund manager reported 10 new positions in the first quarter, with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., its largest stake, the only holdover from the fourth quarter of 2021. Scion's investment in the drugmaker increased to $21.9 million as of March 31 as the company's shares overcame weakness in much of the equity market to post a 17.1% price gain in the first quarter.

This article is part of a series on large institutional investors active in the U.S. financial sector. All institutional investment managers active in the U.S. with over $100 million in investments in Form 13F securities must file quarterly statements detailing their positions.

For an up-to-date summary of Scion Asset Management's common stock investments, go to Scion's main page on the S&P Capital IQ Pro website and click "Public Holdings Detailed" under "Investments" in the left-hand menu.

New holdings

Scion's new stakes run the gamut from Denver-based Ovintiv Inc., an oil and gas driller; to health insurer Cigna Corp.; to social media company Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

Booking Holdings Inc., an online travel reservation company, was Scion's largest initiation of the quarter at $18.8 million.

As of March 31, Scion reported $165.5 million in long common stock positions, up from $74.5 million at year-end 2021.

Burry's firm also revealed a new bearish put position, in tech titan Apple Inc., that had an implied value of $36.0 million at the end of March. Apple's shares have posted a negative 15.7% return this year as of May 17, compared to a 13.7% drop for the S&P 500.

Exits

Scion sold completely out of five investments in the first quarter, the largest of which was a $17.0 million position in Fidelity National Financial Inc.

The firm also exited stakes in two private prison companies, GEO Group Inc. and CoreCivic Inc.