Here's What Berkshire Hathaway Did in Its First Quarter Without Buffett
Q1 2026 marked Berkshire Hathaway's first quarter without Buffett buying and selling stocks in its equity portfolio. Here's what Greg Abel & Co. did.
CEO Greg Abel made a major housecleaning of Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.B) stock portfolio in the first quarter. The holding company, of which Warren Buffett remains chairman, initiated stakes in Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Macy's (M), and added to some other key positions. The big news, however, was a mass exodus from more than a dozen holdings.
Abel now oversees Berkshire's equity portfolio, although Buffett keeps his hand in and plays a key advisory role. Investment manager Ted Weschler also continues to manage perhaps 5% of Berkshire's stock investments.
But the late-2025 departure of former co-portfolio manager Todd Combs — now at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) — has at least partly contributed to Berkshire's holdings getting a fresh new look. A number of names thought to have been Combs' picks are no more.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
At any rate, Berkshire was very busy during the first quarter. In what was perhaps a nod to stretched valuations, it was once again a net seller of stocks. The company bought $16 billion worth of equities and sold $24 billion. Berkshire has now sold more stocks than it has bought for 14 consecutive quarters. Net sales amounted to $8 billion, up from net sales of about $4 billion in the previous three-month period.
Indeed, over the past three years, Berkshire sold more than $200 billion worth of equities. However, the company did begin buying back its own stock under CEO Abel after halting repurchases in May 2024.
With a market cap of more than $1 trillion, Berkshire maintains a sort of "barbell" portfolio, as it holds approximately $280 billion in stocks and more than $380 billion in cash.
Although Berkshire has become more cautious, it did do some shopping in Q1. In addition to buying Delta Air Lines and department-store operator Macy's, the holding company increased stakes in three of its holdings.
On the other hand, Berkshire pared back bets on six positions — and closed out 16 others.
Before we get into Berkshire's most recent buys and sells, it's important to know that Buffett always ran a highly concentrated portfolio.
Excluding the company's Japanese brokerage stocks and other overseas equities, Apple (AAPL) alone accounts for more than a fifth of Berkshire's stock portfolio. (That's down from more than 40% at its peak.)
Furthermore, Berkshire's top five U.S. equity holdings comprise about 67% of its portfolio value, while the top 10 account for 90%.
As Buffett likes to say, diversification is for those who don't know what they're doing.
Stocks Berkshire is buying
Buffett famously avoided airlines for decades. When he finally did come around, his timing was terrible, spreading his bets among a handful of major carriers not too long before COVID-19 set the industry into a tailspin. As a result, he quickly closed out those positions.
So it's a mark of change that Berkshire initiated a stake in Delta Air Lines in Q1, buying 39.8 million shares worth $2.6 billion. With a portfolio weight of a bit more than 1%, the air carrier is Berkshire's 14th-largest holding.
As noted above, Berkshire also made a bet on the consumer discretionary sector, picking up 3 million shares in Macy's. The tiny position in the department store operator was worth $55 million as of the end of Q1. At less than 0.1% of the portfolio, M stock is Berkshire's 27th-largest investment.
More interestingly, Berkshire more than tripled its stake in Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL). The holding company now owns 54 million shares worth $15.6 billion as of the end of Q1. With a weight of 5.9%, the Google parent's Class A shares are Berkshire's 7th-largest U.S. equity holding. Berkshire first bought GOOGL in the third quarter of 2025.
Relatedly, Berkshire initiated a stake in Alphabet Class C (GOOG) stock, picking up 3.6 million shares during the first three months of the year. With a value of $1 billion, the Class C investment accounts for Berkshire's 19th-largest holding.
In another vote of confidence in an existing position, Berkshire tripled its holdings of The New York Times Co. (NYT), adding another 10 million shares during Q1. With a market value of $1.3 billion, or 0.5% of the portfolio, NYT is Berkshire's 17th-largest investment — up from 30th place when it first bought the stock at the end of 2025.
Berkshire also added to homebuilder Lennar (LEN), an investment Berkshire initiated last year. The holding company bought another 3 million shares to bring its total stake to 10 million. With a market value of $877 million, LEN accounts for 0.3% of the portfolio, or the 21st-largest investment. Berkshire picked up more Lennar Class B (LEN.B) stock, as well. However, at less than 0.1% of the portfolio, it's essentially immaterial to a company of Berkshire's size.
Stocks Berkshire is selling
Berkshire reversed course on Chevron (CVX) in Q1, cutting its position in the integrated oil major by 35%. After boosting its stake in Q4, the holding company sold 46 million shares to start the year. Berkshire, which has owned the Buy-rated Dow Jones stock since the fourth quarter of 2020, still owns more than 84 million shares worth $17.5 billion as of quarter's end. And with a weight of more than 6.6% in the portfolio, CVX remains Berkshire's fifth-largest holding.
In another reprise from previous quarters, Buffett once again sold Bank of America (BAC) stock, which has been a major holding since 2017. Don't panic, though. Berkshire reduced its investment in the nation's second-largest bank by assets by less than 1%.
With 513 million shares worth more than $25 billion as of March 31, BAC slipped one place, to Berkshire's No. 3 holding.
In other sales, Berkshire continued to ease up on DaVita (DVA), its 11th-largest holding, this time 5%. The company also massively reduced exposure to Constellation Brands (STZ), a stake it initiated at the end of 2024, by 95%.
Elsewhere, Berkshire cut its stakes in Liberty Live Holdings (LLYVK) and Nucor (NUE), but with portfolio weights of less than 1%, respectively, these names don't move the needle.
The biggest changes came in the form of exits. After slashing its stake by 77% last quarter, Berkshire closed out its position in Amazon.com (AMZN).
A number of other familiar names were also banished from the portfolio. Apparently Berkshire is no longer a fan of payments processors, having exited its stakes in both Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA). The holding company owned both stocks since 2011.
Also getting the boot were Charter Communications (CHTR), Diageo (DEO), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Domino's Pizza (DPZ), Heico (HEI), Lamar Advertising (LAMR), Formula One Group (FWONK), Atlanta Braves Holdings (BATRK), Pool Corp. (POOL), Allegion (ALLE), Aon (AON), Liberty Latin America Class A (LILA) and Liberty Latin America Class C (LILAK).
The bottom line on Berkshire's holdings
While the Visa and Mastercard exits represent significant changes, Abel cleaned up a slew of mostly immaterial bets Berkshire picked up over the past few years. And while the portfolio remains top-heavy, its concentration is now weighted more to its top 10 holdings, with less exposure to the top five.
It is a new era, indeed.
Related content
- Berkshire Hathaway After Buffett: What's Next for Investors?
- A Timeline of Warren Buffett's Life and Berkshire Hathaway
- If You'd Put $1,000 Into Berkshire Hathaway Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have Today
