Ackman: 2027 will be 'an amazing year' for stocks as wars and inflation ease

Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman said Thursday that 2027 will be "an amazing year" for stocks, arguing that easing geopolitical conflicts and cooling inflation will lift a market he otherwise describes as "booming."

Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," the hedge fund manager pointed to two conflicts — the wars involving Russia and Ukraine and Iran — along with elevated inflation and interest rates, as the main drags on equities.

"Once the overhang of the war is done — and it sounds like we're also potentially heading in the right direction with Russia-Ukraine — energy prices could come way down, and obviously that would be very good for inflation and markets," he said. "We're going to have an amazing 2027."

Ackman described the Iran conflict as an "extremely well-executed war" and said peace in the Middle East would be good for the region and "ultimately great for the United States."

Oil and inflation pressure

Higher crude prices have weighed on stocks all year, as traders worry that energy costs will feed inflation and push the Federal Reserve to raise rates. U.S. oil is up 72% in 2026 and Brent crude has risen 83%.

Rising oil appears to have reached consumers. Gasoline prices accounted for more than half of the increase in the latest consumer price index report, and consumer prices rose 3.7% year over year in September, moving away from the Fed's 2% target. Stubborn inflation leaves the Fed in a bind to keep rates elevated.

Netflix and Meta

Ackman also flagged individual stocks he likes. He said he viewed Netflix's earnings favorably. The shares fell more than 5% Wednesday after the company gave lackluster advertising and revenue guidance, then bounced more than 3% Thursday.

He said worries about Netflix's content library are overblown given the strength of its management team and user engagement, noting the stock trades at 18 times earnings, "one of the lowest valuations in history," with earnings growth expected in the mid to high teens for the foreseeable future.

"Netflix is a high growth utility," he said.

Meta Platforms is a core part of Pershing Square's portfolio. Its shares were down 6% Thursday even though the company reported better-than-expected revenue and strong guidance in its third-quarter results Wednesday. Ackman was unfazed: "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 Meta is "extremely well positioned in democratizing the use of agents," citing its personal artificial intelligence agent, Muse, and added that the company has "proven that AI is helping them accelerate their business." Ackman unveiled his Meta position in February, citing its long-term AI upside, and said its compute infrastructure investments are necessary and could eventually generate attractive returns.

Fannie and Freddie

Ackman reiterated his bullish view on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in which he is a large shareholder. "These stocks will go up tenfold," he said, calling it "the most asymmetric investment I'm aware of in the stock market." He said the two entities have rebuilt their capital and now hold five times the capital they had historically.

Source: CNBC.