Nvidia Says It’s Not Enron in Private Memo Refuting Accounting Questions

A series of prominent stock sales and allegations of accounting irregularities have put Nvidia in the middle of a debate about the value of artificial intelligence and its related stocks.

Now Nvidia is pushing back. In a private seven-page memo sent by Nvidia’s investor relations team to Wall Street analysts over the weekend, the chip maker directly addressed a dozen claims made by skeptical investors.

Nvidia’s memo, which includes fonts in the company’s trademark green color, begins by addressing a social media post from Michael Burry last week, which criticized the company for stock-based compensation dilution and stock buybacks. Burry’s prescient bet against subprime mortgages before the 2008-2009 financial crisis was depicted in the movie The Big Short.

“NVIDIA repurchased $91B shares since 2018, not $112.5B; Mr. Burry appears to have incorrectly included RSU \[restricted stock unit\] taxes. Employee equity grants should not be conflated with the performance of the repurchase program,” Nvidia said in the memo. “Employees benefiting from a rising share price does not indicate the original equity grants were excessive at the time of issuance.”

*Barron’s* reviewed the memo, which initially appeared in social media posts over the weekend, and confirmed its authenticity with multiple Wall Street sources.

Burry told *Barron’s* he disagrees with Nvidia’s response and stands by his analysis. He said he would discuss the topic of the company’s stock-based compensation in more detail in a future report.

Nvidia didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

[https://www.barrons.com/articles/nvidia-stock-ai-accounting-allegations-366f16ac?mod=hp\_latestnews](https://www.barrons.com/articles/nvidia-stock-ai-accounting-allegations-366f16ac?mod=hp_latestnews)