3 Brilliant Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks Billionaire Bill Ackman Owns That You Should Too - The Globe and Mail

Key Points

- Microsoft and Amazon just delivered impressive results, causing their stocks to spike.

- Meta Platforms still has some work to do before it can turn around its fortunes.

Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks may not be easy for all investors. However, there are some tools investors can use to see what stocks billionaire hedge fund managers own, and use their holdings to gain investment ideas. One of the more popular ones to follow is Bill Ackman, who runs Pershing Square Capital Management. Ackman is heavily exposed to the AI build-out trend via a handful of stock picks, and I think they are great ideas for most investors as well.

The three major AI stocks Ackman owns are Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN), Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT), and Meta Platforms(NASDAQ: META). While he has other holdings that may qualify for the AI designation, these three are among his larger holdings and easily fit the description. I think all of these stocks are solid investment options, and investors should consider following Ackman's lead and purchase these three stocks.

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1. Microsoft

One of Ackman's investing traits is that he is more of a value-oriented investor. He likes to buy companies that are currently out of favor and hold them until they are fully valued. That's exactly why he took a stake in Microsoft's stock during Q1 2026, and he went in big: 15% of Pershing's portfolio is in Microsoft's stock. Microsoft appeared to be continually falling out of favor with the market until it posted impressive quarterly results a few days ago.

Microsoft's Q4 of fiscal year (FY) 2026 was strong, and was highlighted by 43% Azure revenue growth -- Microsoft's cloud computing division. As a whole, Microsoft did great as well, with revenue rising 18% year over year and earnings per share rising 23%. These were exactly the solid results investors were looking for, and they caused Microsoft's stock to pop an impressive 15.5% the day following earnings.

However, the stock is still fairly cheap at 23 times forward earnings, and makes for a solid investment now.

2. Amazon

Amazon also delivered big results, with its stock taking a big jump following earnings. Once again, the cloud computing division is the culprit, as Amazon Web Services (AWS) blew past the 31% growth Wall Street analysts were expecting. Instead, it grew at a 37% pace -- nearly matching Azure's growth rate. Because AWS is so much larger than Azure, this growth rate is downright impressive.

Ackman first initiated his Amazon position during Q2 last year, and the stock has been about flat until Amazon's strong Q2 results caused the stock to spike. With a blowout quarter like to account for huge AWS growth.

3. Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms didn't have the great quarter that these other two did, and the stock sold off 8% the day following earnings. The market wasn't impressed with Meta's 28% revenue growth, and noted that its operating margin was shrinking due to rising operating costs from the AI talent it has hired. Furthermore, its projected revenue growth rate is slowing down, making the stock seem a bit like dead money.

That's a problem for Ackman, as Pershing Square has about 11% of its portfolio in Meta stock -- a position initiated during Q4 2025. However, investors must be patient. Meta's growth rate is still among the fastest of the big tech companies, and easily outpaces Amazon and Microsoft's. This indicates that its AI spending to boost its ad business is working, and Meta could be launching a new cloud computing service to help monetize some of its AI computing resources as well.

Meta's turnaround isn't even close to being complete, and there could be further sell-offs throughout Q3. However, I think it's still a year or so out from being a true AI powerhouse, and that transformation could vault Meta back into the conversation of one of the best AI stocks to own, but it has a lot of work to do.

Keithen Drury has positions in Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.