Pershing Square Inc.

The call did not include reported quarterly revenue, EPS, gross margin, or year-over-year earnings figures. Management did state that Pershing Square’s fee-paying assets grew by $4.6 billion, that the firm had a base of about $23 billion of fee-paying assets, that PSUS was raised at $5 billion, and that PSUS NAV was approximately $50 while the stock traded in the high $30s. Ackman also said the firm was up 20% and that PSUS was 95% invested. Looking ahead, management said PSUS intends to add 15% to 20% debt to total assets, Pershing Square Ventures is targeted for fall/end-of-year timing, and the dividend policy is to return substantially all distributable earnings/free cash flow quarterly.

Bill Ackman framed Pershing Square as a compounding fee business built on owning a concentrated set of high-quality companies and holding them for years. He emphasized that if the firm simply sits on its current permanent capital vehicles, asset values and fee income should rise as the underlying businesses compound, though quarterly results will remain volatile because of market price swings. His tone was confident and expansive, especially around future vehicles, Howard Hughes, and the opportunity to use volatility to buy attractive assets.

Ryan Israel focused on the portfolio’s earnings power, saying the holdings have a higher earnings yield than the market and nearly double the EPS growth. He argued the portfolio’s long-term returns should be driven more by earnings growth than by multiple expansion, and cited the firm’s investment framework of assessing risk, growth, and terminal multiples over a multiyear horizon. On capital return, management said distributable earnings are a proxy for free cash flow and that a dividend is the most likely near-term return mechanism, while buybacks are less practical given the current stock flow and trading situation.

Analysts pressed on the timing and size of future fundraises, and Ackman said new launches will be episodic rather than on a fixed schedule, with Ventures first. Questions also focused on PSUS’s large discount to NAV; management called the trading “absurd,” blamed the IPO structure and weak demand, and said they will market the vehicle much more aggressively to advisers and the public. Another key topic was hedging and macro risk: Israel said asymmetric hedges are episodic and only used for true black swan risks, and there is nothing on at the moment. There was also extended discussion of Howard Hughes/Vantage, where management said they will add capital and improve disclosure so investors can track the insurance transformation more clearly.