Speaker · Updated
Bill Ackman: latest market views
Pershing Square Capital Management
Summary
Bill Ackman is the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, a New York-based activist hedge fund known for concentrated positions in companies such as Brookfield, Herbalife, Chipotle and Howard Hughes, and for his large public following on X.
Chorus has 30 views from Bill Ackman across 2 episodes on Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box) and In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen since October 28, 2026. Their latest calls: bullish on Amazon.com, Anthropic, Federal Home Loan Mortgage and Federal National Mortgage Association; bearish on Alphabet.
Where they stand
Their latest bullish or bearish call on each company.
- AlphabetBearish ·
- Amazon.comBullish ·
- AnthropicBullish ·
- Federal Home Loan MortgageBullish ·
- Federal National Mortgage AssociationBullish ·
- MastercardBullish ·
- Meta PlatformsBullish ·
- MicrosoftBullish ·
- NetflixBullish ·
- Ramp FinancialBullish ·
- VisaBullish ·
- BrookfieldBullish ·
What they talk about most
- Meta Platforms · 3
- Microsoft · 2
- Middle East & Iran · 2
- Space Exploration Technologies · 2
- US stock market outlook · 2
- Market sentiment, positioning & volatility · 2
- AI infrastructure & data centers · 1
- Alphabet · 1
- Amazon.com · 1
- Anthropic · 1
- Federal Home Loan Mortgage · 1
- Federal National Mortgage Association · 1
The latest views
Newest first. Every quote is checked against the episode's transcript.
Space Exploration TechnologiesUncertain
SpaceX has meaningful cash flows but is harder to predict than Pershing's annuity-like holdings.
Ackman describes SpaceX as a very large company with meaningful sources of cash flow. He says those cash flows are harder to predict. He contrasts Pershing Square's high-certainty, predictable, growing annuity-like cash flows and says he would not yet call SpaceX that. The comparison is about how predictable the business is, not a buy or sell call.
“SpaceX is sort of a very large... In some sense, you know, it's got meaningful sources of cash flows, but you... It's a little more difficult to predict. Pershing Square is about high certainty, predictable, growing annuity like cash flows, and I wouldn't call SpaceX that yet.”at 28:11
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Index funds and short-term traders chase chips, leaving other good businesses underpriced.
Ackman says index funds are absorbing float and short-term investors like Millennium and Citadel chase whatever will rise most over the next few months. The market focus this year has been chips and semiconductors, a picks-and-shovels theme. Everything else has been ignored. That neglect let Pershing buy businesses it had long wanted but found too expensive.
“Index funds kind of gobbling up float. Then you have the millenniums and citadels and increasingly shorter term investors looking for what stock's going to go up the most of the next few months. The focus this year has been chips and semiconductors... Everything else is sort of ignored.”at 30:33
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
VisaBullish
Visa is a royalty on global spending, bought in the low-20s P/E after trading in the 30s.
Pershing Square bought Visa at low-20s times earnings after it traded well into the 30s, a multiple the firm had always found too expensive. Visa is a royalty on consumer spending and a global security network. Ackman dismisses the credit-card risk behind the selloff, saying Visa takes only a modest scrape of global transactions. He argues that agents increasing transaction volume would be a big positive for Visa.
“I put Visa, MasterCard on those lists. It's sort of a royalty on people spending money. It's one of the greatest businesses in the world. Always too expensive for us. These were well into the thirties times earnings. We were able to pick them up in the low twenties.”at 31:08
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
MastercardBullish
Mastercard is a royalty on global spending, bought in the low-20s P/E after trading in the 30s.
Pershing Square bought Mastercard at low-20s times earnings after it traded well into the 30s, a level the firm had always considered too expensive. Mastercard is a royalty on people's spending and a global security network. Ackman argues the selloff on credit-card fears misreads the business, since Mastercard earns only a modest fee on global transactions. Agents that raise transaction volume are a big positive for it.
“I put Visa, MasterCard on those lists. It's sort of a royalty on people spending money. It's one of the greatest businesses in the world. Always too expensive for us. These were well into the thirties times earnings. We were able to pick them up in the low twenties.”at 31:08
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
AI infrastructure & data centers
Microsoft, Amazon and Meta capex is justified by demand; analysts underestimate growth.
Ackman argues Microsoft, Amazon and Meta can afford their heavy spending without taking on financial risk. They are seeing enormous demand and high returns on capital, and cloud has been a high-growth business for Microsoft and Amazon. He says intelligence is the most valuable asset and the path to it runs through processing power. Corporate AI use is still tiny, so he expects usage to rise sharply. He says analysts model the capex but not the change in growth, which he calls just wrong.
“Two, they're seeing enormous demand and high returns on the capital that they're investing. ... The analysts are factoring into the model the CapEx associated with the build out, but not any meaningful change in the growth. I think that's just wrong.”at 32:25
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Meta PlatformsBullish
Meta should do very well if its Muse agent becomes pervasive, despite the ad-model risk.
Andrew Ross Sorkin argues agents could break the search and sponsored-ad model that funds Meta and others. Ackman expects deals between Muse and players like Amazon and Uber, and says the big players will have to interact in some form. He concludes Pershing will do very well with Meta if Muse becomes pervasive around the world. The case is conditional on adoption and is thinly argued. Meta is among Pershing's largest holdings.
“We'll we'll do very well with Meta if Muse becomes pervasive around the world.”at 34:56
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Amazon.comBullish
Amazon is more likely to win agentic commerce on delivery speed, low cost and logistics.
Ackman says only Walmart has anything close to Amazon's logistics and infrastructure. As AI agents drive more transaction volume, Amazon should win share because it can deliver on time at the lowest cost and price. He notes Amazon already has its own voice-driven agentic commerce. He sees Amazon as having fundamental competitive advantages, and Pershing Square holds it as one of its largest positions.
“I think, you know, Amazon's more likely to win, you know, the ability to deliver on time, have the lowest cost, you know, lowest price.”at 35:10
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
No 1920s-style bubble in stocks; earnings are rising and the multiple is reasonably low.
Ackman rejects comparisons with the roaring twenties. He says 2026 earnings expectations have risen meaningfully, while the stock market multiple is reasonably low relative to the growth in the market. He sees no bubble-like activity in public markets. He is less sure about private markets, where he sees more bubble-like behavior, but he gave no evidence for that view.
“...earnings expectations have gone up meaningfully and the multiple is actually reasonably low relative to the growth inherent in the market. So I'm not seeing that sort of bubble like activity in markets.”at 35:51
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Private venture markets show some bubble-like FOMO, but much of the valuation is justified.
Ackman sees the bubble-like behaviour concentrated in private venture markets rather than public stocks, driven by FOMO. He says there is some froth, but a lot of it is justified, and he cites Ramp as an example of a company whose valuation holds up.
“I think in private markets... bubble like activity, particularly in the kind of FOMO private venture space. There is some, but a lot of it is justified.”at 36:19
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Ramp FinancialBullish
Ramp is an impressive company whose valuation is justified by its growth and ambition.
Ackman met the Ramp team and calls the company unbelievably impressive. He says Ramp is building a financial operating system for every company, has a super impressive team, and is growing at a massive rate. He believes that justifies its valuation, though he notes that if he were at American Express he would be concerned about the competitive threat.
“Unbelievably impressive company... they're building basically a financial operating system for every company in the world. Super impressive team growing at this massive rate... I think they justify the valuations that they're...”at 36:30
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Expects Democrats to win the House and hopes the Senate stays Republican; a divided Congress limits presidential action.
Ackman says the likely outcome is a Democratic House, while he hopes the Senate stays Republican. He expects that anything requiring Congress will be very difficult for the president to get done over the next two years, which he sees as limiting the administration's economic policy.
“I think the likelihood is the house goes, and I'm sort of hoping that the senate stays... things that require the congress are gonna be very difficult for the president to get done.”at 40:19
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Higher oil and energy prices from the Iran conflict are temporary.
Ackman acknowledges that the Iran war has pushed up oil and energy prices, and that the president knew this would hurt the midterms. He still characterises the price spike as a temporary phenomenon, not a lasting shift.
“no one likes higher oil prices. No one likes higher energy prices, but it's a temporary phenomenon.”at 41:13
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
The Iran conflict is nearing its end, ending either by negotiation or by military pressure.
Ackman argues the president was right to act because Iran getting nuclear weapons was an existential threat. He says the conflict is getting closer to the end and will resolve either through negotiation or by pummelling Iran enough that it is no longer a threat.
“I think we're getting closer to the end. It ends by negotiation or we pummel them sufficiently so they're not a threat.”at 41:46
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Space Exploration TechnologiesNeutral
SpaceX is too hard to predict for Pershing Square's core fund; Ackman holds it personally.
Ackman owns SpaceX personally through his investment in xAI and a Ron Baron vehicle. He says Pershing Square's core holdings generate large, predictable cash flows, while SpaceX's cash flows are harder to predict and not yet the annuity-like profile he requires. He says venture bets are handled differently from the core fund.
“Because if you look at the kind of businesses we own, they're generating huge amounts of cash flow today... Where SpaceX is sort of a very large... It's a little more difficult to predict.”at 43:01
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Federal National Mortgage AssociationBullish
Resolving Fannie Mae's conservatorship would bring a big windfall, help affordability and give MBS buyers certainty.
Ackman argues Fannie and Freddie are enormously profitable, and that the most important fix is exiting conservatorship, which can be done by executive order. Uncertainty about political control of the entities is weighing on MBS buyers, and certainty from a public listing would help mortgage spreads and affordability. He puts the windfall at about $500 billion for the American people and expects resolution after the midterms, while noting the president's ability to act is restricted before then.
“That only gets resolved in a world in which they exit conservatorship. They become publicly traded companies. They're owned by institutional and retail investors.”at 45:57
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Federal Home Loan MortgageBullish
Resolving Freddie Mac's conservatorship would unlock a huge windfall and give MBS buyers certainty.
Ackman describes Freddie Mac as part of the enormously profitable Fannie and Freddie pair. He argues that exiting conservatorship, which the administration could do by executive order, would remove political risk for MBS buyers and tighten mortgage spreads. He expects this to happen after the midterms, given the limits on presidential action before then.
“That only gets resolved in a world in which they exit conservatorship. They become publicly traded companies. They're owned by institutional and retail investors.”at 45:57
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
Meta PlatformsBullish
Market overreacted to Meta's big capex announcement, letting Pershing buy at a huge discount.
When Meta announced a large capital expenditure plan, the stock fell sharply. Pershing bought it at what Ackman calls a huge discount, which implies he sees the market as overreacting to the spending.
“When Meta announced big CapEx spend, we were able to buy [Meta] at a, you know, huge discount.”at 49:55
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
MicrosoftBullish
Pershing bought Microsoft when fears about capex and a SaaS apocalypse drove the stock down.
Investors worried that Microsoft's capital spending and the broader SaaS apocalypse thesis were hurting the business. Pershing bought the stock during that sell-off, which Ackman describes as a buying opportunity.
“when people are worried about Microsoft CapEx spending in the SaaS apocalypse, we bought Microsoft.”at 49:55
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
AnthropicBullish
Anthropic will have a successful IPO, though it may price less aggressively.
Ackman's team read the Anthropic prospectus and came away impressed that the business is much better financially than they expected from the outside. He expects a successful IPO but thinks it will be priced less aggressively given the market's mood. Pershing Square is not buying at the open, since the stock is too uncertain for its approach.
“My guys have read the Anthropic... And I say they came away impressed that the business from a financial point of view is much... much better business than we would suspected... So I think Anthropic will be a successful IPO.”at 50:39
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
AlphabetBearish
AI answers are eroding Google's search clicks; Pershing sold because the return looked unattractive.
Pershing sold Google because at its price the forward return looked unattractive. Ackman sees a risk that AI answers now give users a quick answer, so they no longer scroll and click through links. Google's once-dominant search bar is therefore a threat it needs to work through.
“I think the risk is, you know, the Google search bar used to be unbelievably dominant, and people still go today, but they get a quick answer from an AI answer, and they don't scroll down and click on a bunch of links.”at 51:12
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
NetflixBullish
Netflix is an incredibly cheap stock; the market is wrong about falling engagement.
Ackman says Netflix is one of Pershing's top performers and an incredibly cheap stock. He notes the market is focused on engagement, with hours spent on the platform having come down. He attributes that to a change in the mix of content, which he implies is a shift in what the company is delivering rather than a broader problem.
“Netflix, we think, is an incredibly cheap stock. And one of their top performers.”at 51:24
Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box): Election Day with Bill Ackman & Rahm Emanuel 11/3/26 ·
BrookfieldBullish
Brookfield is attractively valued because it is complicated, and it is simplifying, which Pershing invested behind.
Ackman says Brookfield is complex, and that complexity is one reason it is attractively valued. The company has been simplifying its business over time and has become a more asset-light royalty-collecting business. Pershing began a due diligence process several years ago and invested after a diligence process of several months.
“Brookfield's actually quite a complicated company. It's one of the reasons why it's attractively valued. They've been simplifying the business over time.”at 13:10
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Bill Ackman: Concentrated Investing, Permanent Capital, and the Value of Being Challenged ·
Market sentiment, positioning & volatility
AI makes market participants shorter-term, as it can instantly read filings and speed up the hunt for short-term edges.
Ackman argues AI is making market participants increasingly short-term. A 10-K gets published and AI can read it instantly, and a huge amount of capital is now invested in searching for short-term edges, which AI enables. He sees this as a shift away from long-term, fundamentals-based investing.
“I think it's making market participants increasingly shorter and shorter term. ... A 10 k gets published and AI can read it instantly. There's a huge amount of capital invested in looking for a short term edge. And AI, I think, enables that.”at 13:54
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Bill Ackman: Concentrated Investing, Permanent Capital, and the Value of Being Challenged ·
MicrosoftBullish
Microsoft's stock fell on heavier AI capex despite strong demand, which Pershing saw as an entry point.
Ackman describes Microsoft as the same pattern as Meta. The company publicly says it has enormous demand for its service and therefore has to invest in capex well above what was expected, and the stock price goes down. He says this dynamic is what led Pershing to invest in Microsoft.
“And the same with Microsoft. ... it's sort of an interesting environment when you have a company come out publicly and say, we have enormous demand for our service. ... And that's what led to an investment in Microsoft.”at 14:39
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Bill Ackman: Concentrated Investing, Permanent Capital, and the Value of Being Challenged ·
Meta PlatformsBullish
Meta's stock sold off on its capex commitment, which reflects real demand, so Pershing bought it.
Ackman says Pershing acquired Meta after the company disappointed investors by committing a large amount of money to capex. The company said it had enormous demand for its service and so had to invest well above expectations to meet it, and the stock fell. Ackman treats the sell-off as a reaction to spending that serves real demand, which made the stock an attractive entry point.
“We acquired Meta after they disappointed people by committing a large amount of money to CapEx... we have enormous demand for our service. Therefore, we have to invest, well in excess of what we expected in CapEx just to try to meet the demand from our product, and then stock price goes down.”at 14:39
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Bill Ackman: Concentrated Investing, Permanent Capital, and the Value of Being Challenged ·
AI will make intelligence a cheap commodity, leaving creativity as the human edge and possibly driving abundance and growth.
Ackman expects AI to give almost everyone access to very low-cost, very high intelligence. Intelligence has been a competitive advantage, and it becomes a commodity. LLMs can absorb everything that came before, but he doubts AI can yet be creative in the way Einstein's relativity was. He thinks what remains for humans is creativity, and that this could bring an explosion of entrepreneurship and a higher overall GDP and global growth rate.
“It's gonna give almost everyone access to very low cost, very high intelligence. ... I sort of make the argument that what's left when everyone has access to low cost superintelligence is sort of creativity.”at 15:12
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Bill Ackman: Concentrated Investing, Permanent Capital, and the Value of Being Challenged ·
Market sentiment, positioning & volatility
Indexation and leveraged short-term capital make great stocks overreact to misses, creating buying opportunities.
Ackman says a high-quality business that disappointed used to drop 3-4% on a miss, but can now fall 30-40%. He attributes this to rising indexation, which reduces float, and to growing amounts of leveraged, short-term capital in markets. The result is that amazing durable companies periodically become available at discounted prices after short-term disappointments.
“it used to be that a really high quality business that somehow disappointed the stock might drop three or 4%, that the stock could drop 30 or 40% on a miss. And I think that's driven by the increasing kind of indexation, which is reducing float”at 18:01
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Bill Ackman: Concentrated Investing, Permanent Capital, and the Value of Being Challenged ·
AI will let brain-computer interfaces restore sight and walking within years, not months.
Ackman has met many brain-computer interface companies, Neuralink being the best known, and sees promising lower-intervention technologies. He argues AI will let us extract more signal from the brain and interpret it far more effectively than before. He expects this to restore vision to the blind and walking to paraplegics. He frames the timeline as a matter of years, though not too many years. He also cites the neglect of brain rehabilitation research, where many neurologists doubt they can help patients, as the reason he is funding a new institute.
“AI is gonna enable us. We're gonna be able to get more signal from the brain... the blind will see again... paraplegics, I believe, will walk again. And... It's a matter of not months, but years, but not too many years.”at 42:28
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Bill Ackman: Concentrated Investing, Permanent Capital, and the Value of Being Challenged ·
Iran's nuclear progress justified action before it reached a point the US could not stop.
Ackman argues that Iran was getting closer to a point where the US could no longer act on its nuclear capability. He cites North Korea as a precedent, where proximity to South Korea and nuclear progress left the US unable to intervene. He adds that Iran's treatment of its people shows it does not share US principles, so it should not be allowed to gain absolute power. The argument is geopolitical and has no direct market or asset-price link.
“Iran was getting closer and closer to a place where we couldn't do anything about their nuclear capability.”at 48:08
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Bill Ackman: Concentrated Investing, Permanent Capital, and the Value of Being Challenged ·
Slowing AI development is unwise because adversaries reaching superintelligence first is the bigger risk.
Ackman argues that AI creates the same kind of challenge as nuclear proliferation: a rival that gets a decisive capability first could gain absolute power. He says the US cannot slow down on AI because one of its enemies might reach superintelligence first. He ties this to maintaining preeminent military AI and nuclear capability as a deterrent. The case rests on a strategic race dynamic rather than on any specific company or market outcome.
“I don't know that we can slow down on AI because imagine if, one of our enemies gets to super intelligence.”at 48:50
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Bill Ackman: Concentrated Investing, Permanent Capital, and the Value of Being Challenged ·
Shows
- Squawk Pod (CNBC Squawk Box) · 1 episode
- In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · 1 episode
Ask your AI what Bill Ackman thinks
Chorus gives Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants every view Bill Ackman has shared on the shows it covers, next to everyone else's. Ask where they stand, what changed, and who disagrees.
Chorus reports what speakers said. It isn't investment advice.