“Silliness is Back”: Michael Burry’s Latest Comments and 10 Rebounding Tech Stocks to Watch - InvestingChannel

“Silliness is Back”: Michael Burry’s Latest Comments and 10 Rebounding Tech Stocks to Watch

In this article, we discuss Michael Burry’s latest comments and look at 10 rebounding tech stocks to watch. If you want to see more stocks in this list, click 5 Rebounding Tech Stocks to Watch.

Michael Burry, one of the most prominent Wall Street financiers, tweeted a cryptic message on August 4, in which he stressed that ‘the silliness is back’, noting that the market’s bullish sentiment in the current macro environment is akin to the 2001 stock market, which was just recovering from the dot.com bubble, ‘before Enron, before 9/11, before Worldcom’. 

Michael Burry is one of the most successful hedge fund managers, having operated Scion Capital Management for clients from 2000 to 2008, before returning money to investors and focusing on his personal portfolio. He forecasted the 2008 financial crisis ahead of time, and is again warning investors about “silliness” in the equity market. He deleted this tweet hours after posting, as he often does. He has been predicting a stock market crash for quite some time now, and the performance of the market indices through the end of June made Burry’s forecasts seem accurate yet again. However, the U.S stock market has shot up 13% from its mid-June bottom. Michael Burry’s recent comments might not be completely off-base, as the Federal Reserve’s president Tom Barkin declared that the Fed “will do what it takes” to curb inflation and bring it down to 2%. Inflation in the United States currently stands at 9%. 

As of August 4, U.S tech stocks have reached their highest point in three months, driven by robust corporate earnings. The 1.6% rise in the S&P 500 Index was led by technology and consumer firms. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also climbed 2.6% to its highest levels since the beginning of May. This rally was largely attributed to fintech stocks, especially PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL), which reported better than anticipated Q2 results and propelled a larger rally in the tech sector. Investor sentiment was also encouraged by robust results from a survey in the U.S services sector. Some of the most prominent U.S tech stocks that have rebounded recently include Sea Limited (NYSE:SE), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ). 

"Silliness is Back": Michael Burry's Latest Comments and 10 Rebounding Tech Stocks to Watch Michael Burry of Scion Asset Management

Our Methodology

We selected the technology stocks that have posted share price gains in the last 5 days as of August 5, driven by robust Q2 earnings, positive analyst sentiment, strong business fundamentals, or demand for their products and services. We have arranged the list according to the hedge fund sentiment around the holdings, which was gauged from Insider Monkey’s Q1 database of 900+ elite funds. 

“Silliness is Back”: Michael Burry’s Latest Comments and Rebounding Tech Stocks to Watch

10. Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTTR)

 

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 12

 

5-Day Percentage Increase in Share Price as of August 5: 14.22%

 

Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTTR) is a California-based spatial data company that offers a 3D data platform to design and understand spaces. Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTTR) stock has rallied recently, rising about 14% in the last 5 days as of August 5. At the end of June 2022, Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTTR) joined the Russell 2000 Index and the Russell 3000 Index.

On July 7, the firm announced its acquisition of VHT Studios, a real estate marketing firm, which when paired with Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTTR)’s 3D Digital Twin platform will improve the buying experience for homeowners and simplify the real estate marketing process for brokers and agents.

Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin on July 18 reiterated an ‘Overweight’ rating on Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTTR) and lowered the price target on the stock to $5 from $7. As per the analyst, software subscription models with more than 85% recurring revenues, high gross margins, and secular tailwinds in cloud and digital might be positioned advantageously to survive economic storms compared to cyclicals. 

According to Insider Monkey’s data, 12 hedge funds were bullish on Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTTR) at the end of Q1 2022, compared to 19 funds in the earlier quarter. Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global Management held the leading position in the company, comprising 3.60 million shares worth $29.2 million. 

In addition to Sea Limited (NYSE:SE), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ), Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTTR) is one of the rebounding tech stocks to watch. 

Here is what Miller Opportunity Equity had to say about Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTTR) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Matterport Inc. (MTTR) continued to be a strong contributor during the quarter after Matterport’s ability to contribute to the building of the metaverse was brought to light. The company reported 3Q results that missed consensus due to unexpected supply constraints and labor shortage in its capture services. The company reported total sales of $27.7M below consensus of $29.1M but with gross profit beating coming in at $15.2M versus $15.1M expected leading to an EPS loss of -$0.06 slightly better than consensus of -$0.07. The company lowered full-year revenue guidance to $107-110M down from $120-126M previously while also lowering FY22 topline guidance to 50% growth from 65% at the time of the PIPE transaction due to continuing supply constraints and labor shortage.”

9. SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI)

 

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 22

 

5-Day Percentage Increase in Share Price as of August 5: 25.57%

 

SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) is a California-based provider of digital financial services, operating through three segments – Lending, Technology Platform, and Financial Services. On August 2, SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) posted a Q2 GAAP loss per share of $0.12, beating market estimates by $0.01. Its revenue of $356 million climbed 50.1% year-over-year, outperforming the Wall Street consensus by $11.6 million. The company now expects full-year 2022 adjusted net revenue of $1.508 billion to $1.513 billion, up from the previously issued guidance of $1.505 billion to 1.510 billion, and full-year adjusted EBITDA of $104 million to $109 million, compared to the earlier guidance of $100 million to $105 million. 

On August 3, Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev raised the firm’s price target on SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) to $8 from $7 and kept a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. The company reported a “strong beat and raise” quarter with robustness across the board, the analyst told investors in a bullish thesis.

According to Insider Monkey’s Q1 data, 22 hedge funds were long SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI), compared to 24 funds in the preceding quarter. Jim Davidson, Dave Roux, and Glenn Hutchins’ Silver Lake Partners is the leading position holder in the company, with 31.2 million shares worth $294 million. 

Here is what Altron Capital Management had to say about SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“We have been building our position in SoFi over the last two quarters but have not yet written about our thesis until now. SoFi is an online financial technology company that started off refinancing student loans. This segment remains a big part of the company’s business, but they have more recently expanded their products to offer an entire suite of financial services including personal banking, investing, and credit. While their collection of products is still evolving and not yet complete, we believe the company is in the early stages of its inflection. The company nearly doubled its member count over the past year and is growing 50%+ despite its loan refinancing business taking a hit due to the COVID-related loan moratorium. Furthermore, the company is close to obtaining a bank charter through its acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp, a community bank based in Sacramento. A bank charter would allow SoFi to take in its own customer deposits, lowering its cost of capital and expanding the company’s breadth of financial offerings.

While SoFi is not the only online banking platform out there, we believe it could take a decent share of the financial services market. Banking is a notoriously sticky business, as the inconvenience and hassle of switching banks prevent consumers from jumping to competitors regardless of cost. This is one of the reasons that traditional banks are one of the few businesses to have truly been disrupted by technology. We think SoFi is well on its way to changing that and creating a new paradigm for the future of consumer banking and financial services.

The factors that will ultimately drive consumer adoption of online banking are cost and convenience. In our opinion, SoFi is best positioned to drive consumers away from the legacy banking model. Their one-stop-shop approach for financial services and their lack of a brick-and-mortar branch network to maintain may eventually propel them into becoming one of the larger players in the banking industry in the United States…” (Click here to see the full text)

8. Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU)

 

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 34

 

5-Day Percentage Increase in Share Price as of August 5: 25.72%

 

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in San Jose, California. The company operates a TV streaming platform. On August 3, Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)’s Paramount+ joined Roku Channel’s lineup of premium subscriptions. However, Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) missed Q2 2022 earnings and revenue estimates and posted soft Q3 guidance. 

On August 3, Citi analyst Jason Bazinet reiterated a ‘Buy’ rating on Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) but slashed the price target on the shares to $125 from $165. The company’s Q2 results and outlook were disappointing but an analysis suggests Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU)’s revenues are closely following YouTube’s patterns, the analyst told investors. He believes the latest softness in sales is a function of macro constraints and does not reflect internal issues at Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU). The analyst remains a buyer of the stock.

According to Insider Monkey’s data, 34 hedge funds were long Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) at the end of the first quarter of 2022, compared to 43 funds in the earlier quarter. Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management is the leading stakeholder of the company, with 8.2 million shares worth more than $1 billion. 

Here is what RGA Investment Advisors had to say about Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Since we bought Roku, no stock has contributed more to our returns and no stock has been more volatile in our portfolio. This is now our third drawdown in the stock of over 30% and our second of over 60%. Fortunately (or tactically) before the two 60% drawdowns we had trimmed our positions by at least a third, though unfortunately that meant we still held large slices of the stock on the way down. Despite the stock having soared too far, too fast and thinking it was due for a period of digestion, we believe over our time frame even the former highs will be rewarded with a good result. We have often pointed out that volatility in companies like Roku is the market’s way of grappling with a really wide range of potential outcomes and that remains as true today as ever, though the range of outcomes continues to narrow for the better for Roku.

Roku today is trading at lower multiples than at any point as a public company, meanwhile its revenue and margin composition has evolved from majority hardware to vast majority platform– in other words, each $1 of revenue is much more valuable today than ever before for Roku. Roku today is a profitable company for the first time in its history. Roku today has a multitude of investment opportunities within its own platform that can drive considerable value. Early in 2021 at higher prices, one had to believe the company would grow accounts internationally to justify valuations. This was so, because the company has so quickly achieved substantial penetration of the US market with 56.4m reported household customers of the ~130m total US households, that further growth in the US household count will be challenging and because prices were so high. Today, one merely needs to believe that with around 60 million households (the expectation for the yet reported year-end 2021 number), ARPU has a strong enough growth tailwind to reach $100 within a reasonable time, without relying on any incremental account growth. For context, as of Q3 this year, ARPU was $40, up 49% year-over-year and we know it will be higher in Q4. Growth in ARPU is underpinned by the continuing migration of viewer hours to CTV. The subforces behind this are increasing the penetration of Roku devices within households (go from one Roku to TV to 2-4), increasing the hours that each house watches (getting from shy of 4 hours to the nearly 8 hours an average American household watches TV) and broadening the content on the platform, increasing the share of inventory with content companies and more hours (like live sports viewing) shifting from linear to CTV. We further believe the opportunity to become the bundler and/or hub of household content subscriptions is growing, as evidenced by the rise in credit card pings per user from 1 to 1.3 per month and its continuing ascension. In this respect, Roku has the right to win with their installed base, because the experience is exponentially better than legacy and competing offerings…” (Click here to see the full text)

7. Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ)

 

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 39

 

5-Day Percentage Increase in Share Price as of August 5: 11.48%

 

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Oakland, California. The company operates a cloud-based programming interface platform that provides card issuing and transaction processing services to developers and technical product managers. On August 4, Truist analyst Andrew Jeffrey reiterated a ‘Buy’ rating on Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) with a $16 price target on the shares, while KeyBanc analyst Josh Beck has an ‘Overweight’ rating and an $11 price target on the shares.

On June 7, Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) integrated its solution into Western Union’s next-gen real-time multi-currency digital wallet and digital banking platform in Europe. In the last 5 days, Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) stock has gained about 11.5%. 

Among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 39 funds were bullish on Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) at the end of Q1 2022, with combined stakes worth $959 million, compared to the same number of funds in the earlier quarter, holding stakes in the company valued at $1.18 billion. Mick Hellman’s HMI Capital is the biggest stakeholder of the company, with 25.6 million shares amounting to $283 million. 

Here is what Alger Spectra Fund had to say about Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Marqeta facilitates the implementation of digital payment technologies. It is a Positive Dynamic Change beneficiary in the digital payments industry. We believe as more commerce is conducted digitally, the digitization and transformation of the payments ecosystem is needed, which Marqeta seeks to address through its modern payment card issuing platform, providing infrastructure and tools for building configurable payment cards. Marqeta offers issuer processor services and acts as a card program manager. Its platform creates customized payment cards that provide innovative payment experiences for their clients’ customers and end users.

Marqeta has emerged as a card issuing platform category leader in many disruptive verticals, including on-demand delivery, alternative lending, expense management, disbursement, digital remittances, and digital banks. Marqeta’s solutions are even sought out by large financial institutions to improve their existing offerings and stay competitive with technology-focused new market entrants. Marqeta detracted from performance despite achieving strong revenue growth with higher gross profitability and an expanded customer base in the third quarter. We believe the expiration of a lock up period and the company facing tough comparisons resulting from COVID-19 stimulus payments having boosted consumer spending contributed to the underperformance of Marqeta shares. Additionally, the still small footprints within the Marqeta revenue base of crypto, truck brokerage and business-to-business clients may take time to scale.”

6. Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM)

 

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43

 

5-Day Percentage Increase in Share Price as of August 5: 9.01%

 

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) provides a communications platform worldwide, offering HD video, voice, chat, and content sharing features. Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) stock has rallied about 9% in the last 5 days as the broader tech sector rebounds. 

On August 4, ​​MKM Partners analyst Catharine Trebnick initiated coverage of Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) with a ‘Buy’ rating and $135 price target. The stock has declined 30% year-to-date due to multiple contraction across the software sector and Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM)’s management guiding for softer year-over-year growth post-COVID, but this has opened an attractive buying opportunity the analyst told investors. After 2022, there are multiple primary catalysts that should balloon Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM)’s growth back up to 20%, ahead of its conservative FY23 guidance of 10.5% to 11%. 

Among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 43 funds were bullish on Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) at the end of Q1 2022, down from 48 funds in the earlier quarter. ARK Investment Management is the largest shareholder of the company, with 8.4 million shares valued at $986 million. 

Like Sea Limited (NYSE:SE), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ), smart investors are monitoring Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) as tech stocks begin to gain traction in the market. 

Here is what Horos Asset Management had to say about Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“What about the other asset class that has attracted the most attention from the investment community in recent times? Here we can distinguish three major groups. First, those companies without earnings that had convinced investors of their great future growth prospects, pushing up their valuations to irrational levels. A clear example of this, which we mentioned almost two years ago (see here) is Zoom Video Communications (“Zoom”), whose market cap exceeded that of companies such as IBM or came close to that of Cisco Systems. Well, from the time we wrote about this odd situation until today, Zoom shares have collapsed nearly 80%.

Therefore, if interest rates rise (or are expected to rise), company valuations are negatively impacted. This is especially true for those businesses that generate little cash today and the market expects them to generate a lot of cash in the future. Hence the severe losses in companies that promised a lot of cash generation in the future (such as Zoom).”

 

Click to continue reading and see 5 Rebounding Tech Stocks to Watch

 

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Disclosure: None. “Silliness is Back”: Michael Burry’s Latest Comments and 10 Rebounding Tech Stocks to Watch is originally published on Insider Monkey.

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