Bill Ackman's Bet: Selected Stocks to Boost Returns

Bill Ackman has made significant moves in his portfolio again. Through Pershing Square, the investor deployed nearly $5 billion following the IPO of Pershing Square USA, allocating more than 95% of the raised capital to 14 investments. Six of these were new positions in stocks.

The strategy behind the purchases combines two factors: high-quality companies and stocks whose valuations have been punished by the market.

Pershing Square ended June with $22.3 billion in assets under management subject to fees, a quarterly increase of over 31% and nearly 11% year-on-year.

Visa and Mastercard were added after their multiples fell to approximately 22 times the expected earnings for the next 12 months. Pershing Square highlighted their global networks, low capital intensity, and the model based on transaction fees.

Both companies receive about 20 basis points per transaction, while value-added services already account for around 30% of Visa's revenues and 40% of Mastercard's. The fund projects a compound annual growth rate of 16% for Visa and 18% for Mastercard over the next three to five years.

Ackman and his team also dismissed the notion that stablecoins are necessarily a threat: "We believe stablecoins represent an opportunity for card networks rather than a threat".

The most striking bet is Netflix, which Ackman had already purchased in 2022. Pershing Square returned to the company after the stock lost about 50% since its peak in June 2025, and its valuation dropped from over 40 times to 21 times future earnings.

The fund emphasized that Netflix has over 325 million subscribers, raised its EBIT margin from 21% to approximately 31.5%, and converts nearly 90% of its earnings into free cash flow.

Additionally, advertising could generate around $3 billion this year, while Pershing Square projects earnings growth close to 20% annually. For Ackman and Israel, "Netflix has effectively won the streaming wars".

S&P Global has fallen more than 25% from its highs, while its multiple dropped from 25 to 19 times earnings. Pershing considers the fears regarding the impact of artificial intelligence on its data business to be exaggerated.

ICE, meanwhile, declined 21% in the year prior to the purchase and was trading at 17 times earnings, near historical lows. "We see a classic, simple, predictable business that generates free cash flow", Ackman and his team noted.

Finally, Alcon saw its multiple fall from nearly 30 to 18 times earnings. Pershing expects profit growth of approximately 15%, supported by margin expansion and buybacks of $1.5 billion.

The general thesis is that earnings will be the main driver of value. Ackman estimates that the companies in the portfolio can increase their earnings per share by nearly 20% annually over the next three to five years, compared to the 12% expected for the S&P 500, despite trading at 19 times earnings versus 20 times for the index.

"In the short term, stock prices are often, and sometimes materially, disconnected [...] from intrinsic values", he indicated. That gap is precisely the opportunity that Pershing Square seeks to capture.

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