Buffett Buys More Apple, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, in Q2
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway topped off existing stakes in some favorite stocks, cut exposure to General Motors and Kroger, and exited its rump position in Verizon.
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Newsletter sign up Newsletter

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B (opens in new tab), $302.82) took advantage of the market's second-quarter swoon to add to its stakes in Apple (AAPL (opens in new tab), $173.16), Chevron (CVX (opens in new tab), $156.80), Occidental Petroleum (OXY (opens in new tab), $64.34) and a handful of other stocks, but the holding company didn't make any exciting or surprising new moves, a regulatory filing made late Monday revealed.
Chairman and CEO Buffett, along with co-portfolio managers Ted Weschler and Todd Combs, were once again net purchasers of equities during the three months ended June 30, although their pace of buying slowed considerably compared with Q1.
After subtracting sales, Berkshire spent $3.8 billion on stocks during the second quarter, down from net purchases of $41 billion in equities during the first three months of 2022. The S&P 500 lost more than 16% of its value during the second quarter. Suffice to say that Buffett and his lieutenants were once again greedy when others were fearful.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-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.
It's also worth noting that Buffett and his subalterns' buying stands in stark contrast to last year's second quarter, when Berkshire was a net seller of equities. And, for good measure, Buffett also spent $1 billion buying back Berkshire Hathaway stock during Q2.
Among the notable additions, Buffett bought another 3.9 million shares in Apple, which is Berkshire's largest position by a wide margin.
The company owned nearly 895 million shares in the iPhone maker, a stake worth $122.3 billion as of June 30. AAPL accounted for 41% of Berkshire's portfolio value at the end of Q2. That's down from 43% at the end of the first quarter due to a slump in Apple's share price.
Buffett has also been aggressively adding to Berkshire's stake in Occidental Petroleum. Berkshire bought an additional 9.6 million shares – worth about $530 million – in the integrated oil and gas firm in late June. The holding company again added to its stake in July, buying another 4.3 million OXY shares worth $250 million.
Including warrants, Berkshire owns roughly 30% of OXY's shares outstanding. Naturally, the conglomerate's large and growing position in OXY is fueling speculation that Buffett could be eyeing a buyout of Occidental Petroleum.
In some other notable purchases, Berkshire topped off existing stakes in Chevron, Celanese (CE (opens in new tab), $116.22), Paramount Global (PARA (opens in new tab), $26.55) and Ally Financial (ALLY (opens in new tab), $35.68)
On the other side of Berkshire's ledger, the company exited what remained of its small stake in Verizon (VZ (opens in new tab), $45.55), the only telecommunications stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Berkshire also closed out its short-lived position in Royalty Pharma (RPRX (opens in new tab), $43.87).
In other stock sales, Berkshire slashed its stake in Store Capital (STOR (opens in new tab), $29.24) by more than 50%. Buffett also reduced Berkshire's exposure to General Motors (GM (opens in new tab), $39.40) and Kroger (KR (opens in new tab), $47.52).
Ultimately, however, Buffett and his lieutenants had themselves a relatively quiet quarter, making mostly immaterial moves. The Berkshire Hathaway portfolio is highly concentrated, after all, with its top five holdings accounting for 75% of the total portfolio value. STOR, GM and KR don't really move the needle here.
And so although Berkshire went on a shopping spree in Q2, it mostly consisted of bargain hunting in a few of Buffett's favorite names. Investors looking for new stock or sector ideas based on the Oracle's Q2 moves didn't get much, if anything, to work with.
Dan Burrows is Kiplinger's senior investing writer, having joined the august publication full time in 2016.
A long-time financial journalist, Dan is a veteran of SmartMoney, MarketWatch, CBS MoneyWatch, InvestorPlace and DailyFinance. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Consumer Reports, Senior Executive and Boston magazine, and his stories have appeared in the New York Daily News, the San Jose Mercury News and Investor's Business Daily, among other publications. As a senior writer at AOL's DailyFinance, Dan reported market news from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and hosted a weekly video segment on equities.
Once upon a time – before his days as a financial reporter and assistant financial editor at legendary fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily – Dan worked for Spy magazine, scribbled away at Time Inc. and contributed to Maxim magazine back when lad mags were a thing. He's also written for Esquire magazine's Dubious Achievements Awards.
In his current role at Kiplinger, Dan writes about equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities, funds, macroeconomics and more.
Dan holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University.
Disclosure: Dan does not trade stocks or other securities. Rather, he dollar-cost averages into cheap funds and index funds and holds them forever in tax-advantaged accounts.
-
-
Gaining More Certainty in Your Retirement Income Plan
Relying on market performance to close the gap in your retirement income could let you down, but a CD ladder and fixed annuities could provide some certainty.
By Cole Czajkoski, Investment Adviser Representative • Published
-
Considering a 1031 Exchange? The Rules You Need to Know
Taxes are an inevitable part of investing in real estate. You can, however, defer or avoid paying capital gains taxes by following some simple rules of a 1031 exchange. Yes, you read that correctly!
By Daniel Goodwin • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks End the Week on a High Note
Intel stock plunged after a big earnings miss, but encouraging inflation and consumer sentiment data created tailwinds for the broad market.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Kiplinger's Weekly Earnings Calendar (Jan. 30-Feb. 1)
stocks Check out our earnings calendar for the upcoming week, as well as our previews of the more noteworthy reports.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Climb After Tesla Earnings, GDP
The electric vehicle maker reported record profit and revenue for the fourth quarter.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Microsoft Earnings Weigh on Stocks
While Microsoft reported top- and bottom-line beats in its fiscal Q2, shares declined on disappointing guidance.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Are Getting 3 New Members
Dividend Aristocrats The index of stocks that have upped their dividends for at least 25 straight years is about to get bigger.
By Dan Burrows • Last updated
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Gains After Busy Day of Blue-Chip Earnings
Travelers and 3M were two Dow components that reported earnings today.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Climb After Spotify Job Cuts
Spotify became the latest company to announce layoffs, while Salesforce climbed on activist investor news.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Netflix, Alphabet Lead Rally in Tech Stocks
Netflix reported much higher-than-expected subscriber growth, while Wall Street cheered Alphabet's layoff announcement.
By Karee Venema • Published