Pershing Square Holdings, an investment holding company, released its second quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Pershing Square is an alternative asset manager that primarily manages capital in publicly traded investment vehicles, with 98% of its capital structure dedicated to such assets, including Howard Hughes Holdings.
This capital permanency allows for long-term investments, fostering sustainable competitive advantages and yielding substantial market returns since 2018. The investment strategy focuses on acquiring high-quality companies at safe price points, anticipating significant annual EPS growth of 15% or more in the coming years. Additionally, reviewing the Fund's top five holdings could help identify its best picks for 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Pershing Square Holdings highlighted Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) as a newly added position. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is a leading global payment technology company that provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services. On August 18, 2026, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) closed at $574.31 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $503.1 billion.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) posted a one-month return of 7.96%, while its shares lost 3.10% over the past 52 weeks. Pershing Square Holdings stated the following regarding Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q2 2026 investor letter: "Earlier this year, we initiated positions in Visa and Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), two businesses we have long admired, which provide the dominant global networks for consumer and commercial payments, with an increasing share of revenue growth coming from value-added services. In our view, Visa and Mastercard are among the highest-quality businesses in the world.
Both are capital light "toll-takers" that earn a nominal fee on each transaction without taking any material risk and are natural beneficiaries of higher inflation. Their networks, built over decades, connect billions of consumers with hundreds of millions of merchants and thousands of financial institutions. Each new member and transaction further strengthens the networks and deepens their data advantage..." (Click here to read the full text) Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) ranks 11 on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026.
According to our database, 157 hedge fund portfolios held Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) at the end of the first quarter, up from 150 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
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