Andrew Left Shorts Nvidia Ahead Of Earnings Release

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA is an undeniably hot stock. It hit an all-time high of $174.56 Aug. 8, and it’s trading up 183.6 percent from last year and 55.4 percent from the start of 2017.

But short seller Andrew Left thinks the time has come for a tumble. The Citron Research analyst bet against Nvidia ahead of the firm’s Thursday earnings report, according to CNBC.

Exclusive: @CitronResearch's Andrew Left says he shorted Nvidia today ahead of earnings, adding "This stock has run way too far, too fast."

— CNBC's Fast Money (@CNBCFastMoney) August 10, 2017

“This stock has run way too far, too fast,” he said.

Update: Nvidia posted a big earnings beat after the close, but the stock fell more than 5 percent in after-hours trading.

In June, Left advised Nvidia investors to shift their funds to Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL, which promises equally “sexy” but less risky exposure to trends around artificial intelligence, datacenters and autonomous driving. He predicted the stock would fall to $130, but values have since barely dipped below $140.

Related Link: Citron’s Andrew Left Makes A Bold Claim: Blackberry Could Be The Next NVIDIA

Left’s perspective counters that of other analysts and industry experts, who profess faith in Nvidia’s model. Loup Ventures Managing Partner Gene Munster, for example, said it will be “difficult to displace them” as a chip supplier for autonomous vehicle manufacturing.

“I think of them as Intel Corporation INTC in 1985, and even though they have had a big run, to play a 10- or 20-year kind of a theme,” Munster said in June, shortly after Left issued his initial thesis.

Left, too, once appreciated Nvidia and predicted its rise, but he now considers the “great company” a “casino stock.”

At the time of publication, Nvidia was trading around $165.36, down nearly 4 percent on the day.