Pershing Square Holdings, the hedge fund led by the billionaire Bill Ackman, delivered a strong performance in the first quarter of 2019. Its full net asset value per share rose 36.9% during the said quarter and surged 38.4% year-to-date.
Key holdings in the fund’s portfolio include Chipotle Mexican Grill accounting for 9.8% of the fund, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) accounting for 5.3%, and Starbucks (SBUX) making up 3.2% of the fund.
Chipotle Mexican Grill rose above the res, whose store sales grew by 10% in the said quarter. Its digital sales doubled y-o-y to almost 16% of overall sales coupled by a strong delivery strategy that has further increased sales and improved margins.
The hedge fund thinks that Chipotle is on a path to transformation that will expand its footprint and astounding growth in sales and profits in the future.
Restaurant Brands was the second best performer of the fund whose unit count expanded by more than 5% and EBITDA grew by 6%.
On the other hand, Starbucks grew 7% in Q1 opening another 30,000 stores globally. The fund believes the company can still have a better future in China where currently it is under-penetrated.