Berkshire Boosts Alphabet Stake 83% in Major Portfolio Shift

Berkshire Hathaway sharply increased its Alphabet stake during its biggest stock-buying quarter in years. Greg Abel, who took over from Warren Buffett as CEO at the turn of the year, oversaw an 83% increase in Berkshire’s Alphabet holdings to about 106 million shares, worth nearly $38 billion at the end of June.

The move included a $10 billion private placement agreed in June at a discount to market price, plus another 19.6 million shares bought on the open market last quarter. For readers tracking Berkshire’s strategy, the takeaway is clear: Alphabet is no longer a side position.

Alphabet was Berkshire’s third-largest US stock holding at the end of June, behind a $66 billion stake in Apple and a $51 billion position in American Express. That ranking is notable because Buffett avoided tech stocks for much of his career, aside from Apple, preferring names such as Coca-Cola and businesses such as Geico.

Buffett has said he made the call to invest in Alphabet last year, while Abel is now CEO and Buffett remains chairman. Alphabet’s roughly 170% stock gain over the past three years reflects investor expectations that the search-and-advertising giant can benefit from the AI boom.

The portfolio update showed wider changes beyond Alphabet. Berkshire boosted its Delta Air Lines stake by 44%, giving it a $5.4 billion position as of June 30, established a fresh stake in D. R. Horton, and added significantly to Lennar and Macy’s.

It also reduced exposure elsewhere, roughly halving its stakes in Capital One and Nucor, trimming Bank of America and Kroger, and closing a small bet on Constellation Brands. The mix points to an active reshaping of the portfolio rather than a single-stock adjustment.

Berkshire’s second-quarter earnings showed it purchased a net $20 billion of stocks, its largest quarterly outlay since 2022. The company spent $23.5 billion on stocks while selling only $3.7 billion, ending a 14-quarter run as a net seller.

The buying push, combined with $4.5 billion of stock buybacks, helped reduce Berkshire’s cash pile from a record $380 billion to $365 billion in the three months ended June 30. That shift matters because Berkshire’s cash pile had ballooned during Buffett’s final years in charge as he struggled to find value in stocks, acquisitions, or buybacks.