Ackman's Pershing Square Dumps Alphabet for Amazon, Sees AI-Fueled Growth

Pershing Square Capital Management, led by Bill Ackman, has made Amazon its fourth-largest holding after selling Alphabet. The firm's investment thesis behind Amazon is centered on the company's growth engines: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and e-commerce.

Ackman initially bought Amazon in April 2025, expecting rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) tools on AWS to reaccelerate growth. This expectation has played out with AWS reporting a 37% year-over-year revenue growth in Q2 2026, its fastest pace in over four years.

Amazon's total revenue rose 20% year over year in the second quarter, while operating income jumped 43% to $27 billion. The retail business has room for margin expansion, aided by advertising momentum and warehouse automation. Ackman expects Amazon to deliver high double-digit earnings growth.

Pershing Square trimmed its Amazon position in Q2 but still holds a significant stake, accounting for about 10% of the firm's reported assets. Ackman sees better prospects in Amazon compared to Alphabet, which was sold to free up cash for Microsoft and other new positions.