Pershing Square Inc. heads into its June 8 earnings date with a borrow market running at extreme temperatures and a CEO who put his own money in at lower prices — a setup that frames the print as a direct test of whether the discount to NAV is closing or widening.
The lending story remains the sharpest signal. Cost to borrow has exploded from roughly 45% in early May to over 300% now — more than a sixfold move in a month — making PS one of the most expensive borrows in the market. Availability has tightened to around 25%, well off last week's low near 9%, but still firmly in restricted territory. The borrow is not new: it has been elevated for weeks, reflecting persistent structural demand to short a closed-end vehicle trading at a discount to NAV. What is new is the scale — 300%-plus cost to borrow is the kind of level that makes sustained short positions economically painful.
Bill Ackman's response was to buy. The founder and CEO made three separate purchases on April 30, accumulating roughly 800,000 net shares at prices in the $22–$24 range — around $19 million in total. The stock has since recovered to $35.47, so the trades are in the money, but the price action this week has given back ground: fell nearly 2% on Wednesday and is down more than 4% on the week. The share price is now roughly 16% below the Street's mean target of $42.43, which itself reflects genuine disagreement — Citigroup and Loop Capital, both initiating last week, set targets of $50 and $49, while Wells Fargo anchored the floor at $37.
The analyst debate splits cleanly along structural lines. Bulls point to permanent capital, operating leverage, and a management team with no pressure to raise external funds — a structure that, if NAV grows, drops disproportionately to earnings. Bears focus on the concentrated, publicly traded portfolio: when markets sell off, Pershing Square's NAV moves in lockstep, and there is limited diversification to cushion the blow. With eight analysts now on record — two Buy, six Hold or equivalent — the consensus acknowledges the upside case but isn't rushing to own it at current levels.
Options positioning leans modestly defensive. The put/call ratio runs at 1.14, above its 20-day average of 0.99, though well within one standard deviation — cautious rather than alarmed. The June 8 print will therefore test one question above all others: whether management can demonstrate that fee income and NAV trajectory justify a re-rating, or whether the discount persists and the expensive borrow simply reflects the market's ongoing skepticism about the closed-end structure.
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Pershing Square Inc. made its NYSE debut just days ago — and it arrived with a borrow market that is anything but calm. The most striking signal this week is not in the portfolio; it is in what Bill Ackman himself did…
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