Investor Michael Burry says he sees “shades of 1999 and 2007—periods of other market frothiness” in today’s meme stocks. This according to a recent article in Barron’s.
“I don’t know when meme stocks such as this will crash, but we probably do not have to wait too long,” says Burry, whose successful bet against the housing market ahead of the subprime mortgage collapse led to his portrayal in the movie “The Big Short.” He argues that the retail crowd is “fully invested in this theme, and Wall Street has jumped on the coattails,” adding, “We’re running out of new money available to jump on the bandwagon.”
According to the article, Burry believes that the meme stock trend could end up hurting regular investors. In 1999, Burry argues, those profiting from dot-com stocks thought the trend would continue and in 2007, folks making money while “leveraged to the hilt in multiple homes” also believed that would continue.
Regarding companies like GameStop and AMC, which the article notes have sold “millions of shares into surging stock prices,” Burry contends that companies should sell stock as long as they follow the laws. “This is a Godsend for these companies,” he says, adding, “But just having cash on hand itself does not warrant high multiples from the market, as many, many listed companies can tell you.”