Michael Burry Eyes the Exit on Walmart, Alphabet and Valero
Key takeaways
- Burry is considering trimming his biggest winners—WMT, GOOGL, and VLO—because their valuations look stretched, mirroring conditions before the 2000 market peak.
- S&P 500 trading at ~32x earnings
- Only two tops (March 2000 & Oct. 6, 2026) hit 95th percentile of weakness
- Stocks within 10% of highs decline 33% over 12 months
What happened
Michael Burry said he may sell or reduce his long positions in Walmart Inc. (WMT), Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), and Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) because their valuations have stretched. He highlighted that these stocks have benefited from secular trends and a supportive bull market. Burry also noted that the current market bears similarities to the run‑up before the March 2000 dot‑com peak, with the S&P 500 trading around 32 times earnings, comparable to the 32‑34 times multiple seen in 2000.
Why it matters
Burry’s potential exit from these high‑profile names could signal a shift in his investment thesis and affect market sentiment toward large‑cap tech and retail stocks. His analysis suggests that the current market may be approaching a top, as the S&P 500’s valuation and internal weakness metrics mirror those of 2000.…
Short-term and longer-term
Short-term. Over the next few days, watch for any price action on WMT, GOOGL, and VLO that could indicate a shift in Burry’s stance.
Longer-term. In the coming months, Burry’s potential exit could prompt a broader reassessment of high‑valuation growth names.
Words on this card
- Substack
- A platform where writers publish newsletters directly to subscribers
- S&P 500
- An index of 500 large‑cap U.S. stocks
- valuation multiple
- A ratio that compares a company’s market value to a financial metric, like earnings
- secular trend
- A long‑term, underlying shift in an industry or economy
- bull market
- A market condition where prices are generally rising
- Earnings Learn
- A company’s results report — usually profit and sales for a quarter, plus any update on what comes next.