Bill Ackman's Pershing Square bought Nike and Brookfield for the first time in the second quarter, a filing showed late Wednesday. Nike stock popped 5.1% on Thursday. Shares of Brookfield edged higher.
Bill Ackman Buys Nike, Brookfield
Pershing Square picked up more than 3 million shares of Nike worth around $229 million in Q2, according to a 13F regulatory filing, as tracked by whalewisdom.com. Nike stock had plunged in late June after the Dow Jones sneaker giant posted a surprise quarterly sales drop amid intense competition.
Also during the quarter, Pershing Square bought 6.9 million shares of Brookfield, an investment management company.
In Q2, Ackman slashed positions in Chipotle Mexican Grill and Alphabet. Both stocks rose on the stock market today.
He made smaller Q2 cuts to stakes in Hilton Hotels and Canadian Pacific Railway.
The hedge fund titan kept Howard Hughes, a real estate holding, steady.
Pershing Square Portfolio
The value-driven investment team at Pershing Square first bought Chipotle stock in 2016, when the burrito chain was facing food-safety issues. It remains a top stock holding after the Q2 cuts.
Ackman first purchased Google stock in the first quarter of 2023, when shares had fallen to a two-year low. It, too, remains a big holding after Q2 cuts.
Other holdings in the Pershing Square portfolio include Burger King parent Restaurant Brands. They also include Universal Music Group, which is not publicly traded in the U.S. market.
Ackman usually bets on just a handful of mostly large-cap stocks.
Bill Ackman's Social Clout, Downsized IPO
Ackman has 1.3 million followers on social media platform X. In recent times, his tweets on the Ukraine war, Israel-Palestine, college protests and other topics have highlighted his social media clout.
The billionaire investor in July endorsed former President Donald Trump in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Chipotle stock shed 4 cents in Wednesday's stock market trading after tumbling 7.5% on Tuesday. Its CEO exited to Starbucks. CMG stock has dived since hitting a record high in June.
A Fortune report on Aug. 3 said that Ackman's main Pershing Square fund had erased most of its 2024 gains in the last half of July. But it has delivered market-beating returns over the past 20 years or so.
Ackman withdrew plans for an initial public offering of Pershing Square USA at the end of July. That came after the fundraising goal shrank from an initial $25 billion to $2 billion before the IPO was pulled.
