Bill Ackman's Three Dominant Portfolio Positions Carry Into 2026

Throughout 2025, the hedge fund manager demonstrated his investment conviction through several major capital deployments in his signature concentrated portfolio at Pershing Square Holdings. Bill Ackman made strategic bets across different sectors, and as the market transitions into 2026, three of these positions stand out as his highest-conviction plays. Each tells a story about where opportunity still lies in the market—and where his team believes patient capital will be rewarded.

Uber’s Untapped Potential in Autonomous Vehicle Networks

The first major move came when Pershing Square acquired over 30 million shares of Uber Technologies for approximately $2 billion in February 2025. The hedge fund chief believed the ride-sharing giant’s valuation didn’t fully account for its structural advantages, particularly in the autonomous vehicle space.

The thesis has paid dividends. Throughout 2025, Uber shares climbed roughly 50%, reflecting strong operational execution. Monthly active users accelerated each quarter, rising 17% in Q3. Users engaged more frequently with the platform, pushing total trips booked up 22% and gross bookings up 21%.

The strategic insight centers on a critical market dynamic: autonomous vehicle companies—from Waymo to emerging competitors—need a demand aggregator to scale efficiently. Waymo alone has struck dozens of partnership agreements using Uber’s platform and continues expanding monthly. Smaller autonomous firms lack the capital to build their own networks, making Uber indispensable to their growth strategy. This positions the company to extract significant value as the autonomous vehicle industry matures over the coming decade.

Based on this competitive moat, the hedge fund manager projects approximately 30% earnings-per-share growth for Uber in the medium term. Even at 25 times forward earnings, he sees the stock as reasonably valued for a company with this growth trajectory. Uber remained his portfolio’s largest public equity position through Q3 2025, underscoring commitment to the thesis.

Nike’s Comeback Play Through Options Strategy

Nike represents a different type of conviction bet—one that carries higher time-bound pressure. Ackman held 18 million Nike shares initially, but at the start of 2025, he executed a tactical shift: selling the stock and rotating into deep in-the-money call options instead.

The strategic logic was clear: options should deliver roughly double the return of the equity position if the turnaround succeeds. Given the $1.4 billion stake value, this remains a significant capital commitment from the fund.

The turnaround under new CEO Elliott Hill progresses gradually. His “Win Now” strategy emphasizes Nike’s enduring strengths—brand power, innovation capability, and wholesale partnerships. Q3 revenue edged up 1%, driven by growing wholesale channel sales, while the company prepares to sacrifice some direct-to-consumer revenue by removing clearance merchandise to improve margins overall.

The tariff environment complicates execution, potentially costing Nike $1 billion annually, though management is mitigating through supplier diversification. Yet the brand equity built over decades remains a durable competitive asset. Few companies can command the athlete partnerships and retail shelf space that Nike maintains.

The clock ticks on the options contracts, making timing crucial. Unlike owning stock, options expire, and the payoff hinges on the turnaround accelerating before that deadline. There’s no indication Ackman has abandoned the position despite 2025’s 13% decline in the stock price. The low break-even point on his options provides downside protection while preserving massive upside if execution accelerates.

Amazon’s Dual Growth Engine at Scale

The third major 2025 entry was Amazon, where Pershing Square acquired 5.8 million shares for roughly $1 billion during April’s sell-off triggered by tariff concerns. While the stock merely kept pace with the broader market since that entry point, the long-term thesis remains compelling for the hedge fund operator.

Amazon’s two core franchises—e-commerce retail and cloud infrastructure—enjoy best-in-class competitive positions that markets may still undervalue. In cloud computing specifically, demand has accelerated sharply due to artificial intelligence adoption, but supply remains constrained. Amazon Web Services grew 20% in Q3 2025 despite spending tens of billions quarterly on data center expansion.

The opportunity extends far beyond current AI workloads. Only about 20% of enterprise computing currently runs in the cloud, suggesting a multi-decade migration opportunity remains ahead. AWS management guides that the 20% growth rate can persist “for a while,” reflecting confidence in this secular tailwind.

On the retail side, Amazon executed a masterful logistics restructuring. After rapidly building fulfillment centers in the early 2020s, the company reorganized into regional networks designed to reduce shipping costs while accelerating delivery times. The result: one-day delivery expanded dramatically while fulfillment costs compressed, supporting margin expansion alongside strong revenue growth. Prime subscription revenue remains a recurring revenue anchor supporting the business model.

When Ackman entered in April, Amazon traded for 25 times forward earnings—a compelling entry for a company managing two growth engines simultaneously. By early 2026, the stock commands roughly 29 times 2026 earnings expectations, a modest premium reflecting continued market confidence in the earnings expansion trajectory. For a company delivering strong growth across both divisions, this valuation appears justified to the hedge fund manager.

Positioning Into 2026

These three positions demonstrate Bill Ackman’s confidence in specific secular trends: the autonomous vehicle revolution, brand resilience in athletic apparel, and cloud computing ubiquity. All three require patient capital and conviction during periods of volatility. Heading into 2026, there’s no indication he’s backing away from any of these high-conviction bets, suggesting the hedge fund expects these theses to continue playing out over the coming months and beyond.