Buffett Triples Down on Alphabet While Ackman Exits 95% of His Position for Microsoft

Buffett Triples Down on Alphabet While Ackman Exits 95% of His Position for Microsoft

In Q1, Berkshire Hathaway quietly tripled its stake in Alphabet, Google's parent company — a move consistent with the firm's long-term, high-conviction approach to equity investing. At the same time, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square took the opposite side of that trade, liquidating 95% of its Alphabet position to fund a new position in Microsoft.

Ackman addressed the apparent contradiction directly on X: "To be clear, our sale of $GOOG was not a bet against the company. We are very bullish long term on Alphabet. But at current valuations and in light of our finite capital base, we used $GOOG as a source of funds for $MSFT." The moves both occurred during Q1, when both stocks were under pressure — meaning Ackman likely secured a favorable entry price on Microsoft, but according to analysis shared on r/stocks, also missed the bulk of Alphabet's subsequent rally. Since their respective March lows, Alphabet has climbed approximately 43% while Microsoft has gained roughly 18% over the same period.

One r/stocks commenter offered a valuation-based rationale for Ackman's thinking: excluding profits attributed to SpaceX and Anthropic, Alphabet was trading at roughly 40x forward earnings while Microsoft sat near 20x forward earnings — a gap that, in Ackman's view, justified the switch even if he remains constructive on Alphabet's long-term prospects. Whether Microsoft proves to be the better risk-reward setup or a value trap, as some in the thread suggested, remains an open question. Berkshire, meanwhile, appears content to let the position run.

Gobble's Take: Two different time horizons, two different answers — knowing which one you're investing on is the only question that matters.

Source: r/stocks

Duolingo Falls Sharply as CEO Signals Slower Growth and AI Transition Costs

Duolingo shares have pulled back materially, with the stock reportedly down approximately 80% from its 52-week high of $541 to around $105 as of mid-May 2026, according to analysis cited by Pluang and TIKR.com. The immediate trigger was guidance from CEO Luis von Ahn acknowledging that daily active user growth decelerated throughout 2025, with the company projecting slower bookings growth and lower near-term profitability as it prioritizes user expansion and builds out AI-powered features.

The financials for Q1 2026 were not the problem — Duolingo reported revenue of $292 million, up 27% year-over-year, with net income rising 24%. The concern is forward-looking: the company's fiscal year 2026 bookings growth guidance of 10%–12% represents a meaningful step down from recent growth rates. To support its AI pivot, Duolingo is moving its "Video Call with Lily" AI feature from the premium Duolingo Max tier down to the more accessible Super Duolingo subscription level, and experimenting with new AI-driven lesson formats — investments that compress margins in the near term.

The stock's slide reflects a market re-rating the growth premium it had awarded Duolingo, not a collapse in the underlying business. Whether the AI integration accelerates re-engagement or simply adds cost without recovering the user momentum von Ahn flagged is the question analysts are now watching closely.

Gobble's Take: Strong Q1 numbers and an 80% drawdown in the same sentence — the market isn't grading on what happened, it's grading on what comes next.

Sources: Pluang

SSR Mining: Landslide, Lawsuit, and a $0.07 Dividend — Is the Dip Worth the Risk?

SSR Mining, a gold producer operating across Turkey, the U.S., Canada, and Argentina, has seen its stock under sustained pressure following a landslide at its Çöpler mine in Turkey in February 2024. The incident led to suspended operations, the disappearance of nine miners, environmental contamination concerns, and ultimately a securities class action lawsuit against the company, according to Trefis. The company's CFO also departed abruptly in March 2024, compounding investor unease around management stability.

Against that backdrop, SSR Mining recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share, payable in June. The company is also reportedly divesting its 80% stake in the troubled Çöpler mine in a deal expected to close in Q3 2026 — a move that, if completed, would reposition SSR Mining as an Americas-focused gold producer with a narrower and potentially more manageable risk profile. Analysts covering the stock, per Trefis, see the divestiture as the clearest path to simplifying the company's operational story and restoring investor confidence.

The question for investors weighing a potential entry is straightforward: the strategic pivot away from Çöpler addresses the source of the most acute risk, but the litigation overhang and the production gap left by suspended Turkish operations won't close on the same timeline as the divestiture.

Gobble's Take: Divesting the problem asset is a step, not a solution — the litigation clock and the production gap are still running.

Source: Trefis

This briefing is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.

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