Pershing Square Inc.

Pershing Square founder and CEO Bill Ackman has built a stake in Microsoft worth roughly $2.4 billion, calling it a core holding bought at a highly compelling valuation. The position became public in May, when Pershing Square disclosed it had bought more than 5.65 million Microsoft shares, worth nearly $2.1 billion as of the end of March. The firm then sold its relatively small holding in Google parent Alphabet to load up on more Microsoft, bringing the holding to slightly over 6.2 million shares as of the end of June, worth $2.3 billion. Leaning into tech has been a key plank of Pershing Square's strategy: the quartet of sector stocks it held at the end of last year, Alphabet, Uber, Meta Platforms and Amazon, accounted for 40% of the portfolio in dollar terms. In a letter to shareholders covering Pershing Square's inaugural quarter as a publicly traded company, Ackman noted that in the first half of this year two of the 24 industry groups comprising S&P 500 index components, semiconductors and IT hardware, were responsible for 85% of the index's year-to-date gains.

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square has taken a new position in Netflix worth about $1 billion, years after a money-losing bet on the stock. Ackman originally plowed roughly $1.25 billion of Pershing Square capital into Netflix in early 2022, only to sell the entire position weeks later at a significant loss after the company unveiled plans for an ad-supported tier, which he said undermined the predictability his concentrated portfolio requires. In an August letter to shareholders, Ackman wrote that Netflix has since effectively won the streaming wars, with advertising now driving live programming and new subscriptions, while free cash flow has ballooned to approximately 90% of earnings. He now expects Netflix to come close to 20% annualized earnings-per-share growth, below the more than 20% he projected in early 2022, a forecast that proved accurate as EPS has compounded 27% since the end of that year's first quarter. Ackman bought again after the stock's valuation sank back to levels last seen in 2022, this time with greater confidence in the advertising business.

Bill Ackman is launching a new Pershing Square Ventures fund to give everyday investors access to pre-IPO companies, with the fund expected to debut before the end of this year. The fund will hold both private and publicly traded companies, and management fees are expected to be relatively low due to its closed-end evergreen structure. The initial portfolio will focus on biotechnology and artificial intelligence, with some of Pershing's current private stakes being transferred to the fund. Ackman aims to provide retail investors with opportunities they've largely been locked out of, such as investing in companies like SpaceX before they go public.

Netflix shares rose 5.4% after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square disclosed a new stake in the streaming company. Tapestry shares plunged 16.5% after the company reported fourth-quarter 2026 revenues of $1.88 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.04%. Arcos Dorados Holdings shares rose 3% after the company reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $0.22 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.15 per share. Accelerant Holdings shares climbed 43.4% after the company reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $0.32 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.16 per share.

Pershing Square held its first earnings call as Pershing Square Inc., with CEO Bill Ackman outlining plans for a new venture fund and steps to improve trading in Pershing Square USA Ltd. shares. Ackman said the firm's first planned new vehicle, Pershing Square Ventures, is targeted for a fall or year-end launch and would invest across a broad range of private companies, operating as a permanent-capital vehicle. He also said Pershing Square USA Ltd., or PSUS, was about 95% invested after raising $5 billion, and the company intends to add investment-grade debt with a target capital structure of roughly 15% to 20% debt to total assets. Ackman acknowledged PSUS shares traded at a substantial discount to net asset value of approximately $50 per share, calling the trading performance 'absurd' and promising a more comprehensive marketing effort. The firm also discussed transforming Howard Hughes into a 'modern-day Berkshire Hathaway' through its insurance subsidiary Vantage, and continues to evaluate potential transactions for its special purpose acquisition rights company, SPARC.

Wall Street finished the week higher, with the benchmark S&P 500 hitting fresh all-time highs, and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) added 1.16% from the previous week to close at $57.60. Among megacap stocks, Banco Santander led the winners, adding 4.26% to $14.70 after receiving Federal Reserve approval for its acquisition of Webster Financial. Berkshire Hathaway gained ahead of its second-quarter earnings release, while HSBC Holdings led the decliners, pulling back 2.53% to $103.73 despite reporting strong first-half results and updating its full-year guidance to include a roughly $2 billion savings target from reorganization. In the large-cap gainers, Blue Owl Capital advanced 15.24% after closing its European net lease fund with €1.6 billion in capital commitments, exceeding its original target, and Pershing Square added 13.82% ahead of its quarterly earnings. On the losing side, Hut 8 retreated 17.69% after missing revenue estimates, while mid-cap UWM Holdings dropped 29.67% and Sezzle fell 23.74% even after boosting its full-year guidance.

The PNC Financial Services Group declared a quarterly cash dividend of $2.00 per share, an 18% increase from the prior $1.70, payable August 5, 2026 to shareholders of record July 20. Lindsay announced a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.38 per share, a 3% increase from the previous $0.37, payable August 31 to holders of record August 17. Pershing Square declared its first quarterly cash dividend since its IPO, at $0.122 per share, payable July 21 to shareholders of record July 13. Terex declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, payable September 18 to stockholders of record August 11. Maximus approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.33 per share, payable August 31 to shareholders of record August 14.

Pershing Square Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of $0.122 per share. The forward yield is 1.51%. The dividend is payable on July 21 to shareholders of record on July 13, with the ex-dividend date also on July 13.