"Big Short" Michael Burry Reaffirms Short Position on Palantir, Calling It a "Sandcastle" Propped Up by AI Narrative
N.R. Finch
Why does Burry call Palantir a "sandcastle"?
In a new Substack post, Burry flagged a head-and-shoulders pattern — a chart formation that typically signals fading bullish momentum — in PLTR's price action.
His core argument: Palantir trades at roughly 16 times his 15-year intrinsic-value estimate. This means → even under the most generous long-term earnings assumptions, the stock is still over a dozen times too expensive by his math.
In plain terms = Burry believes the price is held up not by fundamentals but by the market's imagination around "AI applications." If that narrative cools, the sandcastle crumbles.
Where does the stock sit right now?
PLTR was trading at roughly $152 as of publication, down about 14.4% year-to-date and another 2.6% in pre-market to $148.19.
Over a longer window, the stock is still up more than 14% over the past year. This means → the short-term weakness has not erased the medium-term gain; bulls and bears are still locked in a tug-of-war.
The price recently bounced from the $130–140 range and is now testing key resistance near $150–160. This reflects a market that has not yet reached consensus on Burry's bearish thesis.
What are the human-rights proposals about?
At Wednesday's annual meeting, shareholders will vote on two proposals asking Palantir to commission independent reports assessing whether its software helps government clients — including the Israeli military, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and local police agencies — cause rights abuses.
The proposals were filed by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, a Catholic religious order. In plain terms = these are faith-based and ethical-investment institutions using their shareholder status to ask: what is your technology being used for?
Norway's $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank, publicly backs both proposals, calling on the board to address "material sustainability risks" and the "broader environmental and social consequences" of Palantir's products.
Can the proposals pass?
Almost certainly not. CEO Alex Karp, co-founder Stephen Cohen, and chairman Peter Thiel together hold 49.99% of the voting power. This means → even if every outside shareholder voted in favor, the tally would still fall short of a majority.
The organizers know this and treat the vote itself as a pressure tactic, not a bid for outright victory.
Aaron Acosta of the Investor Advocates for Social Justice said the goal is for Palantir to "transparently acknowledge, mitigate, and otherwise address the human-rights harms in which it is implicated." This reflects a broader governance demand from outside shareholders: even if you cannot change the outcome, keep the question in public view.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.