Pershing Square Inc. (NYSE: PS) reported second-quarter 2026 results, highlighting that its public vehicle, Pershing Square US (PSUS), trades at a significant discount to net asset value. The company plans to launch Pershing Square Ventures by the end of the year.

CEO Bill Ackman stated that management is actively working to address the trading discount through increased marketing and communication with financial advisors. The company anticipates high growth from the compounding of returns in its permanent capital vehicles.

Portfolio Strategy and Leverage

The firm maintains a concentrated portfolio of high-quality growth companies. Ackman described the business as a royalty on the underlying growth and profitability of holdings such as Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Alcon, and Netflix. The company uses investment-grade leverage to optimize returns while maintaining a conservative approach to risk.

For PSUS, the target capital structure is 15% to 20% debt to total assets. Ackman noted that conversations with rating agencies would begin in early September to facilitate an offering. The firm currently holds no hedges against market risks but continues to evaluate potential black swan events.

New Fund Launches

Pershing Square plans to launch Pershing Square Ventures by the end of the year. This vehicle aims to provide public market access to venture capital opportunities, focusing on early-stage and pre-IPO companies. Ackman described future fund launches as episodic, dependent on market conditions.

The company also discussed Spark, a special purpose acquisition rights company. Spark allows private companies to go public at a fixed price per share without founder stock or underwriting fees. The economics of Spark are entirely owned by the Pershing Square funds.

What the Numbers Show

PSUS trades at approximately $38 to $39 per share against a net asset value of roughly $50 per share. This represents a discount of approximately 20%. Ackman attributed this to supply dynamics following the IPO and a lack of marginal buyers. Management views this as a solvable problem through enhanced marketing efforts.

Key Holdings and Outlook

Howard Hughes Corporation remains a significant holding. The company is transforming its insurance subsidiary, Vantage, with expectations of significant value creation. Ackman recruited Mark Ghanima as executive chair and David Gansberg as CEO of Vantage. The intrinsic value of Howard Hughes is estimated north of $100 per share based on liquidation value of real estate assets.

The company owns approximately 230 million shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, trading around $5 per share. Ackman suggested these could be valued at $40 to $50 per share if the administration relists them on the New York Stock Exchange. An overnight increase in AUM of $8 billion to $9 billion is possible under such a scenario.

Capital Returns

Pershing Square plans to return substantially all free cash flow to shareholders via dividends. Distributable earnings serve as the proxy for free cash flow. Buybacks are considered less practical due to the small float, though the company remains opportunistic.

Bill Ackman has transferred 10 million shares of Pershing Square Inc. (NYSE: PS), valued at roughly $400 million, to a new charitable foundation dedicated to brain research and rehabilitation. The donation establishes the financial base for the Ackman Oxman Institute, a project Ackman said gained new urgency after his 26-year-old daughter, Lucy, survived a massive brain hemorrhage earlier this year.

The transfer was executed as a bona fide gift for no consideration from WAA Management LLC, which held the shares indirectly, according to a filing dated August 19. Ackman stated he plans to make an additional gift of similar or greater size in a form other than Pershing Square stock. He expects to name a chief executive officer for the institute by October.

Institute Structure and Leadership

The Ackman Oxman Institute will be built on a roughly 680,000-square-foot campus on Manhattan’s West End Avenue. Ackman noted that this footprint is larger than Rockefeller University. The institute plans to prioritize cures, treatments, devices, rehabilitation, and exercise equipment over academic publishing.

The board of directors includes:

• Dean Kamen, inventor engineer
• George Yancopoulos, co-founder of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN)
• James Rothman, Nobel laureate
• Chris Kellner, neurosurgeon who led Lucy’s care team
• Bill Ackman and his wife, architect Neri Oxman

Personal Context and Future Focus

Ackman said Lucy was found unconscious in her Brooklyn apartment in February by her sister. Doctors performed emergency surgery to relieve pressure on her brain. Ackman described Lucy’s months-long recovery, which included regaining cognition and beginning to walk with assistance, though she remains unable to see.

He suggested Lucy’s future recovery may involve brain-computer interface technology from companies including Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk, as well as Precision Neuroscience, Science Corp, Synchron, and Nudge. Ackman and Oxman had considered launching a brain institute five years ago, inspired by the death of Oxman’s mother from Alzheimer’s, but said they could not make the economics work at the time.

Market Reaction

Pershing Square’s shares closed 0.25% lower on Wednesday at $39.81. The stock lost 0.03% in early pre-market trading on Thursday. Benzinga edge rankings show Pershing Square’s stock has a positive price trend in the short, medium, and long term.