Why Wall Street Remains Bullish on Alphabet Even After a Billionaire's Q3 Exit

The Analyst Consensus That Contradicts Ackman’s Move

When Bill Ackman decided to offload over 519,000 shares of Alphabet Class A stock in the third quarter of 2025—reducing his hedge fund’s position by approximately 9.7%—he may have expected the market to take notice. Instead, Wall Street responded with near-universal enthusiasm for the tech giant.

A November survey by S&P Global covering 66 Alphabet analysts revealed a striking reality: not a single analyst recommended selling the stock. The breakdown was equally telling: 12 analysts assigned “strong buy” ratings, 45 gave “buy” ratings, and the remaining 9 preferred “hold”—but none advocated exiting the position entirely. This overwhelming consensus suggests that professional investors believe Ackman may have misjudged the timing.

Understanding Ackman’s Unusual Portfolio Move

With a net worth of $9.2 billion, Bill Ackman doesn’t typically make careless investment decisions. His Pershing Square Capital Management operates with a highly concentrated portfolio of just 11 stocks, requiring careful strategic decision-making. The third quarter of 2025 proved particularly cautious for the billionaire: he initiated no new positions and added to none of his existing holdings. Instead, he trimmed stakes across four companies.

His most significant transaction involved the Alphabet sale. While Ackman maintained stakes in both Amazon and Uber—AI-connected holdings added earlier in 2025—he kept his Amazon Class C position stable and slightly reduced his Uber stake by 0.1%. The Alphabet Class A trimming represented his most material AI-related move of the quarter.

The billionaire has offered no public explanation for the transaction, nor has Pershing Square issued any formal statement. The prevailing theory among market observers is that Ackman chose to capture profits, particularly given that Alphabet Class A shares have surged substantially since he initiated his position in early 2023.

The Fundamental Case Supporting Alphabet’s Growth

Wall Street’s bullish stance rests on concrete business performance. Alphabet’s Q3 financial results painted a picture of robust expansion: revenue climbed to $102.3 billion (up 16% year-over-year), while earnings nearly doubled, reaching approximately $35 billion (a 33% increase).

The company’s competitive position in artificial intelligence has strengthened considerably. Google Search continues to accelerate, driven by generative AI features including AI Overviews. Google’s Gemini large language model has attracted over 650 million monthly active users, signaling broad market adoption. Google Cloud’s acceleration is particularly noteworthy—the unit is benefiting substantially from AI infrastructure demand and enterprise adoption.

Looking Ahead: Why the Dividend Remains Attractive

Despite his reduced stake, Ackman hasn’t abandoned Alphabet. Pershing Square continues holding over 11 million Class A and Class B shares valued at approximately $3.3 billion, suggesting lingering conviction in the company’s trajectory.

Several catalysts support analysts’ optimistic view. The recent rollout of Google Gemini 3.0 should strengthen Google Cloud’s competitive positioning. Increased agentic AI adoption—where AI agents autonomously handle tasks—will likely drive incremental cloud platform adoption. Additionally, Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing services, currently operating in five U.S. cities with expansion planned to 11 additional cities plus London, represent a meaningful long-term opportunity. Google Quantum AI’s recent quantum computing milestones could eventually unlock significant value within the coming decade.

The disconnect between Ackman’s modest profit-taking and Wall Street’s conviction suggests that long-term investors may find the current environment compelling for building positions in Alphabet—even as even the most disciplined capital allocators occasionally opt to harvest gains.