2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks Billionaire Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Absolutely Wants to Own in 2026

Data is the fuel that keeps Wall Street humming along. Unfortunately for investors, the amount of data they have to digest from earnings reports, economic data releases, and Federal Reserve commentary can sometimes be overwhelming. Occasionally, something important can fall through the cracks.

For example, Nov. 14 marked the deadline for institutional investors with at least $100 million in assets under management to file Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A 13F provides a concise quarterly snapshot that allows investors to track the stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and select options that Wall Street's savviest fund managers have been buying and selling.

Although Berkshire Hathaway's soon-to-be-retiring billionaire CEO, Warren Buffett, is the most-followed money manager, he's far from the only billionaire with a penchant for generating outsize returns on Wall Street. Pershing Square Capital Management's billionaire boss Bill Ackman is another fund manager with a knack for spotting a good deal hiding in plain sight.

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Ackman is best known for being an activist investor. He often takes sizable stakes in companies perceived to be undervalued, with the goal of coaxing management or the company's board into making modest changes to unlock or improve shareholder value.

Like most activist investors, Ackman oversees a relatively concentrated portfolio. Pershing Square Capital Management ended September with 11 holdings totaling approximately $14.6 billion in market value.

But among these 11 positions are two artificial intelligence (AI) stocks that Ackman's actions make clear he absolutely wants to own in 2026.

Uber Technologies

The first AI stock Pershing Square Capital Management's billionaire chief is clearly enamored with is ride-share goliath Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER). Ackman oversaw the purchase of 30,270,518 shares of Uber stock during the first quarter, making it his fund's largest holding by total market value.

Most people are familiar with Uber because of its ride-sharing dominance. According to data from AutoInsurance.com, Uber has maintained a 68% to 76% share of the U.S. market between September 2017 and March 2024. Though rival Lyft is growing rapidly, Uber has increased its ride-sharing moat, which reached a high of 76% in March 2024.

Ackman spilled the beans on the catalysts behind his purchase in a February interview with CNBC. Said Ackman,

We believe that Uber is one of the best-managed and highest-quality businesses in the world. Remarkably, it can still be purchased at a massive discount to its intrinsic value. This favorable combination of attributes is extremely rare, particularly for a large-cap company.

On top of praising its valuation, Pershing Square's boss extolled the job Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has done. He's taken a company that was losing money and burning cash and made it a highly profitable cash cow. According to Stratis Research, the global ride-sharing market is projected to grow tenfold to about $918 billion from 2025 to 2033.

But what you might not realize is the pivotal role AI plays in Uber's outlook. The company is using artificial intelligence to match riders with drivers, track routes, forecast demand, and personalize the ride-booking experience for consumers.

It's also a key component of Uber's ventures into autonomous vehicles. In July, Uber inked a deal with electric-vehicle maker Lucid Group and privately held Nuro to deploy at least 20,000 Lucid Gravity robotaxis over the next six years.

Furthermore, Uber has diversified well beyond its ride-sharing operations. The company's Uber Eats platform and freight logistics segment tie it at the hip to the U.S. economy. Although the economy is cyclical, it spends a disproportionate amount of time expanding compared to contracting. That's a favorable position for Uber to be in over the long run.

Image source: Amazon.

Amazon

The second AI stock Bill Ackman has made clear, through his actions, he wants to own in 2026 is e-commerce colossus Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Pershing Square Capital Management purchased 5,823,316 shares of Amazon stock during the June-ended quarter, which was worth close to $1.3 billion, as of Sept. 30.

Similar to Uber, Amazon isn't known first as an AI company. Most people are acquainted with Amazon through its world-leading online marketplace. According to UpCounting, Amazon was projected to gobble up more than 40% of U.S. online retail share in 2025, which is nearly four times more than its next-closest competitor, Walmart.

Although e-commerce revenue comprises a significant portion of the company's net sales, it's Amazon's ancillary operating segments that are responsible for the lion's share of its operating income.

Nothing has more bearing on Amazon's future than the success of the world's No. 1 cloud infrastructure services platform by total spend, Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS is incorporating AI into its platform and allowing clients access to generative AI and large language model solutions. It's anticipated that these AI tools will accelerate AWS's already impressive 20% year-over-year sales growth rate.

Through the first nine months of 2025, AWS brought in 18.5% of Amazon's net sales, but accounted for 60.3% of its operating income. Ackman likely recognizes that as AWS becomes a larger piece of Amazon's revenue pie, its cash flow is going to increase at a disproportionately faster pace than its sales.

Don't overlook Amazon's advertising or subscription service segments, either. The company attracts billions of monthly visitors to its online marketplace and through streaming content, making it an attractive platform for advertisers seeking to target shoppers or viewers. Meanwhile, Amazon's growing content library and shipping perks give it extraordinary pricing power with its Prime subscription.

The cherry on the sundae for billionaire Bill Ackman is that Amazon stock was historically cheap when he piled in during the second quarter. Throughout the 2010s, investors paid a median of 30 times year-end cash flow to own shares of Amazon. During the second quarter, shares could be picked up for about 10 times forecast cash flow in 2026. Shares remain historically cheap at just 12 times projected cash flow per share for the upcoming year, as of the closing bell on Dec. 9.

Sean Williams has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Uber Technologies, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Lyft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.