Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said Wednesday his hedge fund had built a 6% stake in Domino’s Pizza and traded his Starbucks bet.
Ackman revealed that Pershing Square had sold Starbucks after the coffee chain quickly recovered from the pandemic. At the same time, he took up Dominos stocks after a pullback.
“We sold Starbucks. It came at a price where it was difficult to get the excess returns we’d like to deserve … The stock just rallied too quickly,” Ackman said during the Future of Everything festival on Wall Street Journal.
The investor said that for a brief moment, Domino’s stock “fell dramatically for reasons we didn’t understand and we were able to swap Starbucks for Domino’s pizza.” He said he started buying for around $ 330 a share.
“We didn’t get as much as we’d like, but we own a little less than 6%,” added Ackman.
The hedge fund manager has been betting heavily on the return of the restaurant, retail and hotel industries. His top positions at the end of 2020 included Lowe’s, Hilton, Restaurant Brands and Chipotle.
Domino’s Pizza stocks rose more than 3% to their daily high of around $ 435 apiece after Ackman’s remarks. Starbucks stock fell 2.3% on Wednesday.
Pershing Square owned more than $ 1 billion worth of Starbucks late last year. After hitting a pandemic low in March 2020, Starbucks shares quickly returned, ending the year more than 20%.
Ackman said he was optimistic about Domino’s landmark moves in terms of technology and delivery. The stock is up more than 13% in 2021.
“Domino’s is a pure franchise company and, interestingly, they were the first to invest in technology and delivery,” he said. “They own their delivery infrastructure and do not have to rely on the world’s DoorDashes.”
Did you like this article?
For exclusive stock selection, investment ideas and CNBC Global Livestream
Sign up for CNBC Pro
Start your free trial now