Earnings

Pershing Square Swings To $19.9 Million Quarterly Loss As Pay Charges Swamp Fee Growth

Compensation costs of $70.5 million pushed the Ackman-led manager to a loss, while fee-related earnings rose to $63.7 million.

Matteo Parrino Jonathan Ponciano

Matteo Parrino, Jonathan Ponciano

— 2 min read
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Pershing Square Swings To $19.9 Million Quarterly Loss As Pay Charges Swamp Fee Growth

Pershing Square Inc., the alternative asset manager led by Bill Ackman that runs pools of permanent capital, posted a third-quarter net loss of $19.9 million attributable to the company, or $0.05 per share, according to results released Monday. A year earlier it earned $155.5 million.

Pay charges drive the loss

Revenue came in at $56.6 million, down from $66.2 million a year earlier. Employee compensation and benefits reached $70.5 million under standard accounting, against $5.7 million in the third quarter of 2025.

The company's reconciliation strips out $64.8 million of non-cash or non-recurring compensation. That bucket covers amortization of employee equity grants and one-time severance paid to former employees. Without it, compensation was $5.7 million.

The year-ago quarter was also flattered by a $132.0 million unrealized gain on Howard Hughes shares. This quarter that line was a $19.2 million gain.

Fees rise, distributable earnings slip

Fee-related earnings, the company's measure of profit from recurring management fees, rose to $63.7 million from $56.5 million a year earlier, with a margin of 84.2%. Management fees on the company's adjusted basis were $75.6 million.

Distributable earnings, the measure of cash available for dividends, fell to $49.5 million, or $0.12 per share, from $56.5 million, or $0.14. The company booked $11.5 million of taxes and related payables; it said it owed no corporate income tax before this quarter, following its conversion to a corporation tied to its April 30 public offering.

The company paid a dividend of $0.103 per share on October 20.

$32.8 billion under management

Assets under management ended September at $32.8 billion, up from $32.5 billion at June 30. Fee-paying assets reached $23.0 billion, and the company said 98% of them are permanent capital, which investors cannot withdraw at their option.

Pershing Square shares closed at $46.62 on Monday. Ackman and Chief Investment Officer Ryan Israel host an earnings call Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by a public Q&A at 10:30 a.m. ET streamed on X.

Ackman and Israel take questions Tuesday, first on the earnings call at 9:30 a.m. ET and then in the public Q&A at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Sources

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