We recently published a list of Michael Burry Stock Portfolio: Top 8 Stock Picks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) stands against other Michael Burry’s top stock picks.
Legendary investor Michael Burry is best known for his contrarian strategies that often outperform the overall market. Burry is famous for having foreseen the subprime mortgage crisis that occurred from 2007 to 2010. He shorted the mortgage bond market, making $800 million for himself and his investors.
While he made a name for himself at the height of the financial crisis in 2007, the legendary investor has built a reputation on Wall Street on his ability to identify and invest in market-beating opportunities. His recent actions demonstrate a trend toward high-conviction investments in cheap, market-leading businesses.
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“Dr. Burry’s one of those investors who doesn’t just follow the crowd,” says Edward Corona, a market trader and publisher of The Options Oracle Newsletter. “He’s a true contrarian, digging deep into the numbers and spotting opportunities others might miss.”
China is one market in which the legendary investor is taking a keen interest, going by holdings in Scion Asset Management, a hedge fund he established in 2013. While the investment fund focuses on long-term capital appreciation, it also targets undervalued or misunderstood investment opportunities. That’s evident given that Burry’s biggest holdings are Chinese internet giants that have been battered in recent years amid a slowdown in the Chinese economy due to heightened regulatory pressure.
The changes in Scion Asset management came as Beijing stepped up its attempts to boost economic growth while putting breaks to regulatory pressure. Although the unexpected stimulus plan caused a wild surge in Chinese stocks, some market watchers are still wary of the industry’s long-term prospects. The CSI 300 Index, the nation’s equity benchmark, rose 32% in just two weeks following Beijing’s stimulus measures.
Despite identifying as a value investor, Burry tends to jump in and out of positions frequently rather than hold his stocks for an extended period. That was evident as he exited his position in a real estate company in the third quarter on concerns that the sector would capitulate amid high interest rates. His most significant action during the third quarter was selling all of his shares in a real estate investment trust (REIT) in Los Angeles. He used the money he received to hedge against potential losses on some of the company’s biggest investments.
Our Methodology
To make the list of Michael Burry Stock Portfolio: Top 8 Stock Picks we scanned Scion Asset Management portfolio. We then settled on the legendary investor top holdings and analyzed why they stand out as long term plays. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on Scion Asset Management’s stake value in the companies.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Michael Burry of Scion Asset Management
Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR)
Scion Asset Management’s Stake Value: $13.29 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 27
Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) is a software infrastructure company that provides software and payment processing solutions. Its competitive edge as a software and payment processing company stems from its focus on the resorts, restaurants, sports, and entertainment sectors. Consequently, its revenue growth has averaged 36% over the past two years.
Merchants switching from using multiple software providers to a single system is a major trend propelling Shift4 Payments, Inc.’s (NYSE:FOUR) growth. By providing a comprehensive end-to-end system that manages all of a merchant’s requirements for payments, security, reporting, analytics, and more, Shift4 Payments has strengthened its growth prospects. The company has also resorted to acquisitions with sizable customer bases to ramp growth.
Shift4 Payments, Inc.’s (NYSE:FOUR) exclusive worldwide partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink broadband service has also improved its market position. The partnership should expand the company’s worldwide payment coverage and give it a competitive advantage in areas where conventional payment infrastructure is not yet available. Its payment has been increasing from $25 billion to $33 billion as of the third quarter of 2024. The sizeable backlog attests to Shift4’s future revenue potential while affirming high demand for the company’s services.
Overall, FOUR ranks 3rd on our list of Michael Burry’s top stock picks. While we acknowledge the potential of FOUR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FOUR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.