Burry Says This "Mall Dinosaur" Has "A Physical Moat" That Is "Hard For Wall Street To Understand"

Michael Burry, known for “The Big Short,” is building a long case for Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW), arguing the plush retailer has a “physical moat” that analysts miss. In a paid Substack post published Oct. 29, 2026, he frames Build-A-Bear as a “mall dinosaur” whose interactive in-store experience—stuffing, dressing, naming, and a “heart ceremony”—is difficult to replicate through a standard online checkout. Burry also cites “clean” accounting and that a quarter of the shares were retired over the last five years, alongside buyback authorization near 13% of shares and about a quarter of the float short. He notes wholesale partner locations grew from 60 in early 2022 to 177 by June 30. However, he points to two consecutive guidance cuts, with Q2 revenue down 7.2% to $115.3 million, e-commerce demand down 15.6%, and guidance lowered to $500 million–$525 million for fiscal 2026.