'Just crazy': Palantir chief responds to investor shorting from 'downgrade game'
Palantir CEO and founder Alex Karp had harsh words for shortsellers, particularly Michael Burry, after the famed investor from the movie "The Down Game" bet against Palantir and Nvidia stock in the latest quarter results.
"He's shorting two companies that make all the money, it's wildly bizarre," Karp told CNBC. - The idea of shorting chips and ontologies (logical structures on which artificial intelligence is built - Oninvest) is just crazy."
Palantir's stock was down 9% in trading on Nov. 4 following the release of its quarterly report. The company reported earnings growth, revenue growth, and raised its full-year forecast, but investors are increasingly wary of overvaluing AI companies, CNBC explains.
Burry's hedge fund Scion Asset Management then reported that it held put options with a face value of about $187 million against Nvidia and $912 million against Palantir at the end of the third quarter. The report did not specify the strikes or expiration dates of those contracts, CNBC explained. It remains unclear whether Burry profited from the fall in Palantir shares on Nov. 4: the disclosed positions reflect the state of the portfolio as of Sept. 30, and the structure of investments may have changed since then. Burry declined to comment to the channel on his positions or Karp's statements.
"It's actually not the fact that he's actually shorting us. It's more likely that he's just thinking, 'How do I get out of position and not look like an idiot,'" Karp suggested on CNBC. He also added that he considers this behavior of shorting "egregious" and will "dance for joy" when it turns out that they were wrong.
"It's very complicated with these shorts ... Frankly, I think it's market manipulation," Karp said. - We've had the best performance anyone has ever seen. It's possible that this is all just a way to jump out of a position. These people say they are supposedly being ethical, but they are actually shorting one of the greatest businesses in the world.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
