Breaking down the stocks Bill Ackman (Pershing Square) bought, sold, and held in Q1 2026, including their holdings at the end of the quarter. All data sourced from Pershing Square's 13F filed on May 15, 2026.

Who are Bill Ackman and Pershing Square?

Pershing Square is a concentrated investment firm founded in 2004 by billionaire investor Bill Ackman. Structured as a closed-ended fund, Pershing Square takes significant but typically non-controlling positions in a small number of large-cap companies. Ackman employs an activist approach, advocating for operational and strategic changes to unlock shareholder value. The firm aims to maximize long-term compound annual growth in intrinsic value per share through high-conviction positions.

Pershingsquareholdings.com
Wikipedia on Bill Ackman
Q1 '26 13F filed with SEC

Holdings in Q1 2026

Ticker Company Weight Change Value
BN Brookfield 17.6% Trimmed (-3%) $2415.95B
AMZN Amazon 17.4% Added (+19%) $2385.1B
UBER Uber 15.7% Trimmed (-1%) $2154.93B
MSFT Microsoft 15.3% NEW $2092.97B
QSR Restaurant Brands 12.2% Trimmed (-1%) $1673.5B
META Meta 11.1% Trimmed (-0%) $1522.36B
HHH Howard Hughes 8.7% $1192.58B
SEG Seaport Entertainment 0.8% $107.91B
GOOG Alphabet 0.7% Trimmed (-95%) $89.42B
HTZ Hertz 0.5% $70.26B
GOOGL Alphabet 0.1% Trimmed (-95%) $9.31B
HLT Hilton 0.0% Exited $-869.98B

Current Investment Strategy

As of the first quarter of 2026, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square maintained its hallmark high-conviction, concentrated approach — holding a tightly focused portfolio of large-cap franchises spanning real estate, hospitality, and technology — while exiting **Hilton** and initiating a new position in **Microsoft**, which Ackman accumulated during a sell-off at roughly 21 times forward earnings, betting on durable AI and cloud growth through **Azure** and the **M365** Copilot suite. The firm's Q1 portfolio — anchored by **Howard Hughes**, **Seaport Entertainment**, **Hertz**, and the newly added **Microsoft** stake — reflects Ackman's enduring philosophy of buying dominant, often misunderstood franchises at a discount to intrinsic value and holding them through long-term compounding cycles.

New Investments

Microsoft MSFT

Bill Ackman bought $2092.97B of Microsoft in Q1 2026. Over the last 12 months, the company has sustained solid double-digit growth with Azure posting 39% year-over-year expansion in the latest quarter, still ahead of most large-cap cloud peers but clearly moderating as AI infrastructure investment scales up. In the most recent quarter, revenue and EPS topped consensus, yet the stock declined more than 10% as investors focused on record AI-related capital spending of roughly $37.5 billion, associated margin pressure, and capacity constraints rather than the strength of underlying demand. Despite this near-term multiple compression, fundamentals remain attractive with high recurring revenue, strong long-run free cash flow potential once AI capex normalizes, and a supportive sell-side backdrop of 15 buy ratings and a $600 median price target versus a recent share price around $409, implying material upside if management executes on AI monetization and cloud growth plans.

  • Azure revenue grew 39% year over year in the latest reported quarter, with management signaling further growth moderation in upcoming quarters.
  • AI-focused capital expenditures reached approximately $37.5 billion recently, contributing to short-term operating margin pressure despite strong top-line and EPS beats.
  • Shares trade around $409 versus a Street median 12-month price target of $600, implying roughly 46% upside based on current estimates.

Added, Trimmed, and Exited

Added

Pershing Square added to its Amazon (AMZN) position, increasing shares from approximately 9.6 million to 11.5 million — a roughly 19% increase in share count.
What it means: Bill Ackman's decision to meaningfully grow the Amazon (AMZN) stake while simultaneously initiating a large new position in Microsoft (MSFT) signals a deliberate rotation toward mega-cap cloud and AI infrastructure plays. Rather than spreading bets, Pershing Square appears to be concentrating further in names where AI tailwinds are most directly monetizable at scale, consistent with the firm's high-conviction, concentrated style.

Trimmed

Pershing Square dramatically cut its Alphabet (GOOG) and Alphabet (GOOGL) positions by approximately 95% each — reducing them to near-negligible stakes — while making modest trims to Brookfield (BN), Uber (UBER), Restaurant Brands (QSR), and Meta (META).
What it means: The near-complete disposal of Alphabet (GOOG) and Alphabet (GOOGL) is the most striking move of the quarter and reads as a de facto exit — likely reflecting concerns about Alphabet's competitive positioning in AI search and cloud relative to Microsoft (MSFT), which received the freed-up capital. The marginal trims to Brookfield (BN), Uber (UBER), Restaurant Brands (QSR), and Meta (META) are small enough to appear more like portfolio rebalancing than conviction changes, and do not signal a fundamental shift in thesis for those holdings.

Exited

Pershing Square fully liquidated its position in Hilton (HLT), exiting approximately 3 million shares valued at roughly $870 billion at the time of the prior filing.
What it means: Hilton (HLT) has been a long-held position for Bill Ackman, so its full exit is notable. Combined with the near-exit from Alphabet, this quarter reflects a meaningful portfolio simplification — shedding a consumer-cyclical hospitality name in favor of doubling down on technology and AI infrastructure. It suggests Pershing Square sees a better risk-reward in compounding through cloud and AI exposure than in holding a mature, travel-dependent business that may have less room for the kind of activist-driven value creation the firm targets.

Disclaimer: All posts are for informational purposes only. They are NOT a recommendation to buy or sell the securities discussed. Please do your own research and due diligence before investing your money.