'Big Short' investor Burry turned more bullish on second quarter

By Carolina Mandl

NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management ended the first quarter more bullish on companies across different sectors and geographies, a securities filing showed on Thursday, after betting against Chinese companies previously as the Trump administration considered imposing tariffs.

Burry, known as the "Big Short" investor for his prescient calls ahead of the 2008 U.S. housing market crash, placed bets that benefit from a rise in share prices. The call options convey the right to buy shares at a set price in the future.

The investor bought call options on Chinese companies Alibaba 9988.HK and JD.com 9618.HK, Dutch semiconductor supplier ASML Holding ASML.AS and on some U.S. names, such as cosmetics company Estee Lauder EL.N, Lululemon Athletica LULU.O, Meta Platforms META.O, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals REGN.O, UnitedHealth Group UNH.N, and VF Corp VFC.N.

Scion's portfolio also included long-only positions in Bruker Corp BRKR.O, Estee Lauder, Lululemon, Regeneron, and UnitedHealth.

Burry's second-quarter portfolio contrasts with bets against Alibaba, Baidu 9888.HK, JD.com and PDD Holdings PDD.O in the first quarter, ahead of Trump's announcement of high levies on goods imported from China.

The securities filing does not indicate Burry's current holdings.

After the S&P 500 dipped to its lowest point in almost a year on April 8 following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, U.S. stocks recovered. Both the S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq reached record closing highs in June, capping their best quarter in over a year as hopes for trade deals and possible rate cuts eased investor uncertainty.

Both indexes ended the quarter with double-digit gains. The S&P 500 gained 10.57% during the period, and the Nasdaq rose 17.75%.