Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management has doubled its stake in Estee Lauder (EL.N) at a time when the beauty giant's new CEO is leading a transformation to counter weak demand in key markets such as North America and China.
The American investor, famous for his bets against the U.S. housing market before the 2008 financial crisis (portrayed in The Big Short), now holds 200,000 shares of Estee Lauder worth $13.2 million, according to a regulatory filing published on Thursday. That’s double the amount from the end of last December.
“Burry’s bet reflects confidence in Estee Lauder’s ability to reclaim its position as a leading beauty brand in an increasingly competitive global market,” said Anjali Janchandani, a global brand marketing expert at New York University.
Since his appointment in January, CEO Stéphane de La Faverie has ramped up new product launches and introduced premium pricing tiers in an effort to revive demand after several quarters of sluggish growth.
“I see this as a positive sign for Estee Lauder amid the CEO’s restructuring efforts, even if the investment amount isn’t very large,” said Morningstar analyst Dan Su.
A recently announced 90-day truce in the U.S.-China trade war will reduce U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%. This move is expected to ease pressure on companies heavily reliant on the Chinese market.
The Asia-Pacific region, including China, accounted for roughly 31% of Estee Lauder’s total sales in the 2024 fiscal year.
According to the filing, Burry cut the number of holdings in his portfolio by about half — down to seven.
Estee Lauder shares have lost 15% in value year-to-date, but rose around 2% on Friday.