Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Exits Alphabet and Expands Meta Stake by 20%

The hedge fund liquidated its remaining Google shares in the second quarter while building up its position in Meta.

By The Company WireSeptember 20, 2026 at 5:23 PM UTC3 min read

Meta Platforms — Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Exits Alphabet and Expands Meta Stake by 20%. Photo: Yahoo Finance.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman's hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, adjusted its mega-cap technology exposure during the second quarter by selling off the remainder of its Alphabet stake and increasing its position in Meta Platforms by approximately 20%, according to an analysis published by Yahoo Finance (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/billionaire-bill-ackman-dumps-alphabet-172300077.html).

The portfolio shift followed a brief holding period for Google's parent company, which Pershing Square had initially bought into during the first quarter. Ackman reallocated capital into Meta while the social media giant was trading roughly 15% below its peak.

The two tech giants experienced divergent stock trajectories in the third quarter following the rebalancing. Since the end of the second quarter, Meta's share price has climbed more than 19%, while Alphabet shares declined over the same window.

Meta's market momentum has been supported by positive user reception for its artificial intelligence rollouts, including Muse, its personal AI agent. The assistant handles tasks such as calendar scheduling, goal setting, and shopping. Although Meta currently charges no user fees or subscription costs for Muse, the tool is designed to deepen user engagement across the company's ecosystem ahead of eventual monetization.

Alphabet's share performance cooled during the middle of the year amid a lack of headline consumer product releases, though the company retains long-term catalysts. Alphabet holds a major equity stake in AI startup Anthropic, which is preparing for an initial public offering that could yield a valuation above $100 billion and deliver additional cash reserves for AI infrastructure.

Even after its 19% rally, Meta continues to trade at a discount relative to Alphabet based on 2027 earnings projections, avoiding distortions in Alphabet's trailing price-to-earnings ratio caused by investment portfolio gains. Meta currently trades at approximately 19.5 times forward earnings estimates for next year.