Bill Ackman told CNBC's Money Movers that two live conflicts - the Ukraine-Russia and Iran wars - plus elevated inflation and interest rates are muting what he sees as a booming market setup. He said the Russia-Ukraine situation seems to be moving in a better direction and called the Iran conflict an "extremely well-executed war."
His take is simple: war risk has kept energy prices high. If tensions ease, he thinks oil could fall, which would help cool inflation and lift markets. He also said peace in the Middle East would be good for the region and "ultimately great for the United States," and summed up his outlook with "We're going to have an amazing 2027."
Higher crude has weighed on stocks this year because investors worry expensive energy feeds inflation and nudges the Federal Reserve to keep rates higher. So far in 2026, U.S. oil is up 72%, while Brent has climbed 83%. The WTI Crude December 2026 contract was at 98.89 dollars, up 1.74 or 1.79%, at 12:41 PM EDT.
The jump is showing up in consumer data. Gasoline prices made up more than half of the latest increase in the consumer price index, with overall prices up 3.7% year over year in September. With inflation still above the Fed's 2% goal, policymakers are under pressure to keep rates elevated to tamp it down.
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Ackman likes the long-term setup at Netflix. Shares fell more than 5% Wednesday after the company offered soft advertising and revenue guidance, then recovered more than 3% on Thursday. He said worries about the depth of Netflix's content are overstated given its management strength and user engagement. He noted the stock trades at 18 times earnings, calling that "one of the lowest valuations in history," and said he sees earnings rising at a mid- to high-teens rate over the foreseeable future. His punch line: "Netflix is a high growth utility."
Meta is a core position at Pershing Square. The stock slipped 6% Thursday even though the company topped third quarter revenue expectations and guided strongly for the current period. That did not bother Ackman. "We're in a world in which you cannot look at the day one trading of a stock after earnings because of how levered market participants are and how short-term they are," he said.
He added that "Meta is extremely well positioned in democratizing the use of agents," pointing to traction with its personal AI agent, Muse. In his view, Meta has "proven that AI is helping them accelerate their business and this remains an incredibly undervalued stock and that's why we own it." He first disclosed the stake in February, saying then that Meta's "long-term upside potential from AI represents a deeply discounted valuation for one of the world's greatest businesses." He also thinks Meta's spending on compute infrastructure is necessary and could eventually produce attractive returns.
Ackman's framework links geopolitical risk to energy, then to inflation, then to rates. If that chain loosens, he sees a stronger market by 2027, with Netflix's multiple and growth and Meta's AI momentum as examples of where he is leaning.
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