Ackman bought Mastercard while it trails the S&P 500 badly, having fallen 1% over the past year while the index gained over 20%. Ackman also added Netflix and Visa, but his Pershing Square funds are down up to 9% this year while the S&P 500 gained 10%. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Mastercard didn't make the cut.
Grab the names FREE today. One of the most closely watched investors on Wall Street has added Mastercard (NYSE: MA) to his portfolio. On Thursday, August 13, 2026, Bill Ackman unveiled six new holdings in his biggest portfolio overhaul in years, including Mastercard, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), and Visa (NYSE:V).
Per , Ackman said the shares were acquired starting in the second quarter and will be held in his investment funds, including Pershing Square USA (NYSE:PSUS), which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in April 2026. He said he believes the earnings at Mastercard and the others are poised for strong growth, which he views as the greatest driver of investment value over time. Mastercard runs one of the world's two dominant payment rails, moving money between merchant banks and card-issuing banks across 3.7 billion Mastercard and Maestro branded cards globally.
It has evolved into a diversified fintech company: value-added services (fraud tools, identity, business insights) grew 18% year over year in Q2 2026. Recent bets include Mastercard Agent Pay for agentic commerce and the pending BVNK acquisition for stablecoin infrastructure. Q2 2026 delivered operating margins of 61.1% and adjusted EPS of $5.04.
This is a high-quality compounder trading on a trailing P/E of 31. Here's where it gets interesting. Mastercard has trailed the S&P 500 across every meaningful window heading into Ackman's purchase.
Have a look at what $1,000 invested in Mastercard would have done for you. A $1,000 stake five years ago has grown meaningfully, but it would have grown more sitting in an index fund. Over the past 12 months, Mastercard is actually in the red while the broad market is up strongly.
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