Michael Burry warns Nvidia's situation parallels Cisco during dot-com bubble peak
Burry specifically highlights Nvidia's surge in purchase commitments as risky
The comparison comes amid Nvidia's extraordinary market performance and dominance in AI computing
Cisco lost approximately 90% of its value after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000
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Michael Burry, the investor famously portrayed in 'The Big Short' for his successful bet against the housing market, warned that Nvidia's current surge in purchase commitments parallels the excessive risk-taking seen at Cisco during the dot-com bubble peak. In a recent commentary that has drawn attention in financial circles, Burry emphasized that 'This is not business as usual. This is risk,' specifically addressing Nvidia's rapidly increasing obligations to purchase goods or services. The remarks, which come amid Nvidia's remarkable stock performance and market dominance in artificial computing hardware, reflect growing concerns among some market watchers about potential valuation excesses in the technology sector. Burry's comparison to Cisco, which experienced a dramatic collapse after the dot-com bubble burst, serves as a cautionary note about market exuberance. Burry's observation highlights the striking similarities between Nvidia's current market position and that of Cisco during the late 1990s tech boom. Both companies enjoyed extraordinary growth and became market darlings, with Cisco dominating networking equipment and Nvidia currently leading in AI computing chips. The investor specifically pointed to Nvidia's increasing 'purchase commitments' - contractual obligations to buy goods or services - as a red flag, suggesting these financial arrangements may be masking underlying risks in the company's business model. During the dot-com era, similar complex financial arrangements and aggressive growth strategies contributed to the eventual market collapse when investor sentiment shifted. Nvidia's stock has surged dramatically in recent months, driven by unprecedented demand for AI chips, with the company's market capitalization now exceeding many established industrial and financial giants.
Michael James Burry (; born June 19, 1971) is an American investor, hedge fund manager and licensed physician. He founded the hedge fund Scion Capital, which later went by the name Scion Asset Management. In 2025, Burry announced he was shutting down Scion Asset Management.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational technology conglomerate corporation that develops, manufactures, and sells hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and other high-technology services and products focused on networking, cyber security and AI. Cisco...
Nvidia Corporation ( en-VID-ee-ə) is an American technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, it develops graphics processing units (GPUs), systems on chips (SoCs), and application programming interfaces (APIs) for...