Billionaires Burry and Ackman Bet on Adobe and S&P Global Amid AI Skepticism
Bill Ackman acquires S&P Global shares citing a refinancing wall, while Michael Burry increases his Adobe position, dismissing fears that generative tools will commoditise their core businesses.
Billionaire investors Michael Burry and Bill Ackman have made contrarian purchases in Adobe and S&P Global, respectively, positioning against prevailing market sentiment that artificial intelligence will commoditise their operations. According to reporting from Yahoo Finance, both investors view current valuations as disconnected from the fundamental durability of these businesses, arguing that regulatory barriers and enterprise workflow integration provide sufficient protection against AI disruption.
Ackman disclosed in his latest investor letter that he purchased shares in S&P Global, a stock that has declined more than 20 per cent from its 2025 high. The investment challenges fears that AI tools, such as Anthropic’s Claude Cowork, will render financial data cheap and accessible. Ackman contends that S&P Global’s three core franchises—Ratings, Indices, and the Platts energy pricing business—possess high margins and regulatory moats that AI cannot replicate.
The Ratings division operates as a near-duopoly with Moody’s, covering over 95 per cent of US corporate debt. Ackman notes that companies pay for these ratings because they reduce borrowing costs by approximately three times the fee amount, a value proposition reliant on lender trust that AI cannot manufacture. Furthermore, a significant wall of pandemic-era debt is due for refinancing in 2027 and 2028, which Ackman identifies as a key catalyst for the Ratings business.
Burry, who disclosed an increased position in Adobe earlier this year, applies similar logic to the creative software giant. Adobe shares trade at under 11 times forward earnings, a significant discount to its five-year average of near 27 times. Burry argues that Adobe’s moat lies in enterprise workflow lock-in rather than just image generation software. The Experience Cloud serves more than 12,000 enterprise customers, including most of the Fortune 500, with file formats deeply integrated into corporate design and publishing processes.
Adobe’s Firefly AI model is trained on licensed content, allowing major brands to utilise AI-generated work without copyright risk. This approach aims to widen the company’s moat rather than shrink it. Additionally, monthly active users on Adobe’s free tiers have risen from 50 million to 90 million in one year, with the company planning to convert this base into paid subscriptions. Recurring revenue currently exceeds $27 billion, though the freemium conversion strategy remains unproven, with AI-first revenue accounting for less than 2 per cent of total sales.
Despite the bullish cases, risks persist. For S&P Global, the growth of private credit into investment-grade territory could shrink the ratings fee pool. For Adobe, the strategy of sacrificing near-term subscription growth to chase user acquisition carries the risk that free users may never convert to paying customers.
