Billionaire investor Bill Ackman told clients on Thursday that his hedge fund bought Amazon shares last month, betting earnings will continue to grow at the online retailer as President Donald Trump's tariffs bite less than consumers initially feared.
Ackman and his investment team updated clients on additions to the portfolio at his hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management. "The most substantial move is Amazon," chief investment officer, Ryan Israel, said on a conference call.
With a value of over $2 trillion, Amazon is one of the world's most valuable companies and has long featured on Ackman's list of most admired businesses.
As one of the world's most voluble activist investors who often pushes companies to perform better, Ackman's stock picks are closely watched for investment trends.
But Amazon stock had been too costly until early April when the market was battered by news of Trump's heavy tariffs for imported goods and its price cratered.
"We felt that the company would be able to work through any slowdown in the cloud computing division Amazon Web Services and we did not judge that tariffs would have a material impact on the earnings in the retail business," Israel said.