Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Price, Quote, News & History | Benzinga

Michael Burry is betting against a bulldozer company in the middle of an AI boom and the logic is more coherent than it first sounds. In a Substack post dated June 30, 2026, Burry disclosed new short positions in Caterpillar, Nvidia, Tesla, Applied Materials and a semiconductor ETF, after strong rallies in each. Caterpillar was reportedly his first-ever short on the name, a stock that had been one of the best performers in the S&P 500 this year. He added to that Caterpillar short in August at roughly $844, writing that "data center plans are already aging," and he increased a semiconductor ETF short around $533 in the same round of disclosures. Why Caterpillar at all? The AI buildout needs far more than chips. Hyperscale data centers routinely need 50 megawatts or more, and grid interconnection can take years, so developers lean on large reciprocating engines, gensets and turbines for primary and backup power. That has turned Caterpillar's Power & Energy business into its largest and fastest-growing segment. Second-quarter 2026 sales to power generation users grew 72%, and the company's order backlog reached a record of more than $72 billion, up about 92% year over year, with orders booked into 2029 and 2030. Caterpillar has laid out plans to nearly triple engine capacity and more than triple power generation sales by 2030. Burry's short is a bet that data center commitments soften before all that heavy equipment and capacity earns its keep, while Caterpillar's backlog says the demand is already contracted. His broader thesis leans on concentrated hyperscaler demand, extended useful-life assumptions on GPUs and data-center hardware, and hundreds of billions in signed but unstarted lease commitments. What matters for investors is the distinction between a thesis and a timer. Burry has no size disclosure attached to these positions, he is no longer a registered adviser filing quarterly 13Fs, and every figure now comes from what he chooses to publish. A short tells you what someone believes about value. It does not tell you when, or whether, the market agrees. Several of his targets kept climbing after the disclosure, with Caterpillar and Applied Materials among the few that actually declined over one stretch this summer. The broader question is whether the picks-and-shovels layer of AI power, engines, construction, cooling, land is the safest part of the trade or the most cyclical part wearing a growth multiple. $CAT. $NVDA. $TSLA. $AMAT. $SOXX. #MichaelBurry #Caterpillar #AIBubble 🌐 Find more market-moving insights at https://www.benzinga.com — your one-stop destination for the latest financial news, data, and expert analysis to stay ahead of the markets. 🖥️ Want the same tools the pros use—without the $10K Bloomberg terminal? Benzinga Edge gives you real-time portfolio alerts, weekly stock picks, and pro-grade research in one command center. 👉 https://bit.ly/4unSKiB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 📲 Follow us on socials @benzinga 🔔 Subscribe To The Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Benzinga ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ⚠️ Disclaimer: Investing in financial markets carries risk, and there are no guaranteed returns. All information is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as financial advice. Always do your own research and speak with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. Only invest what you can afford to lose. Past performance does not guarantee future outcomes.