By Maksym Misichenko · CNBC ·
What AI agents think about this news
The panel generally agrees that Greg Abel's portfolio overhaul signals a strategic shift away from Warren Buffett's 'cigar-butt' equity picking toward a more concentrated, high-conviction strategy focused on secular growth, particularly in Alphabet. However, the re-entry into Delta Air Lines is seen as a controversial move that contradicts Berkshire's core principles and may expose the company to unnecessary risks.
Risk: The concentration in Alphabet and cyclical exposure to travel, along with uncertainty about Abel's authority, are the key risks highlighted by the panel.
Opportunity: The potential for high returns in AI/tech and a more aggressive investment strategy is the main opportunity flagged.
This analysis is generated by the StockScreener pipeline — four leading LLMs (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok) receive identical prompts with built-in anti-hallucination guards. Read methodology →
(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.)
Notable positions cut, Alphabet more than tripled, Delta is back
Berkshire Hathaway's equity portfolio got one of its biggest renovations ever during Greg Abel's first three months as the company's CEO, according to a new SEC filing.
Two new names, Delta Air Lines and Macy's, have been added to the list, along with increases for four holdings.
Google parent Alphabet got the biggest boost as Berkshire increased the number of shares it owns by 224% in the first quarter.
Given its size, the increase is almost certainly an Abel move that was either endorsed, or possibly even suggested, by Warren Buffett.
With a market value of $16.6 billion as of the end of the first quarter, the Google parent is Berkshire's seventh largest equity holding.
At least for the short term, the decision to buy so many shares has been a spectacular success.
The stock has seen a 38% rally since the end of the first quarter, just over six weeks ago.
As previewed by The Wall Street Journal last month, it appears Abel did sell many or all of the stocks that had been handled by portfolio manager Todd Combs, who moved to JPMorgan in early December.
Abel, or Ted Weschler, the portfolio manager still with Berkshire, probably sold some non-Todd stocks as well, but the company generally does not publicly identify who is responsible for individual names, so we don't know for sure.
The holdings eliminated in the first quarter include the following:
The 2.3 million Amazon shares sold in the first quarter were all that remained after Berkshire sold 7.7 million of its 10 million share stake in the fourth quarter.
Constellation Brands, which has been associated with Combs, was all but eliminated with a cut of 95%.
Bank of America and Apple, which have been substantially reduced in previous quarters, were spared.
BofA was trimmed by less than 1% and Apple's position was unchanged.
A table with Berkshire's entire equity portfolio appears later in the newsletter.
Measured by market value, Chevron was the first quarter's largest reduction.
The shares in the 35% cut were valued at more than $8 billion as of the end of the first quarter. The remaining stake was worth more than $17 billion at the time.
Especially given its large size, it is not thought to be a Combs stock.
The stock was rising in the first quarter as Berkshire was selling but has dropped by 7.6% since the end of Q1.
It is still up 25.4% year-to-date amid elevated oil prices due to the Iran war.
The second largest increase in Q1, after Alphabet, was the return of Delta Air Lines.
Berkshire purchased 39.8 million shares, currently valued at $2.8 billion.
It is the first airline stock in Berkshire's portfolio since the first quarter of 2020, when Buffett sold all the company's shares in Delta, as well as American, Southwest, and United at a loss due to the massive reduction in air travel as the COVID-19 pandemic was gaining steam.
He had purchased the stakes in 2016 as consolidation increased the carriers' pricing power.
In early 2017, he told CNBC's Becky Quick, "It's true that the airlines had a bad 20th century. They're like the Chicago Cubs. And they got that bad century out of the way, I hope."
That was itself a return to a sector he had shunned for years after a troubled investment in US Airways he made in 1989.
In his 2007 letter to shareholders, Buffett wrote, "The worst sort of business is one that grows rapidly, requires significant capital to engender the growth, and then earns little or no money. Think airlines. Here a durable competitive advantage has proven elusive ever since the days of the Wright Brothers. Indeed, if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down."
Given his history with airlines, it seems unlikely Buffett was behind this latest return to the skies.
(CNBC's Buffett Archive includes a collection of clips with his thoughts on airlines over the years.)
Berkshire tripled its stake in the New York Times to 15.1 million shares, currently worth more than $1.1 billion.
And a new position in Macy's sent the department store chain's stock 5.3% higher after the closing bell, even though it's worth just $59 million, even with the late gain included.
An anonymous bidder is paying $9 million to have lunch with Warren Buffett, basketball star Stephen Curry, and entrepreneur/author Ayesha Curry.
The "A Seat at the Table" charity auction on eBay recently ended.
Buffett is personally adding an $18 million donation, double the winning bid.
The total proceeds of $27 million will be split between San Francisco's Glide Foundation and the Currys' Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation that is "working to transform the school experience for a generation of Oakland students."
Buffett's lunch auctions raised more than $53 million for Glide over two decades. In 2022, what was then called the "grand finale" of the series was won by an anonymous bidder for $19 million.
Some links may require a subscription:
Fortune on MSN: I'm a Berkshire Hathaway investor and I was wrong about Greg Abel. Here's why he's a better fit than Buffett right now
Bloomberg Opinion: Does Greg Abel Really Want to Continue Buffett's Legacy?
Four weeks
Twelve months
BRK.A stock price: $723,821.00
BRK.B stock price: $482.70
BRK.B P/E (TTM): 14.37
Berkshire market capitalization: $1,041,004,861,297
Berkshire Cash as of March 31: $397.4 billion (Up 6.5% from Dec. 31)
Excluding Rail Cash and Subtracting T-Bills Payable: $380.2 billion (Up 3.0% from Dec. 31)
Berkshire repurchased $234 million of its shares in Q1 2026.
(All figures are as of the date of publication, unless otherwise indicated)
Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S. and Japan, by market value, based on the latest closing prices.
Holdings are as of March 31, 2026, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on May 15, 2026, except for:
The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at [email protected]. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)
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Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here on Berkshire's website.
-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
Four leading AI models discuss this article
"The pivot into capital-intensive airlines while shedding high-margin payment processors marks a departure from Berkshire's long-term value discipline that could lead to significant capital misallocation."
The massive portfolio purge under Greg Abel suggests a pivot from 'cigar-butt' equity picking toward a more concentrated, high-conviction strategy focused on secular growth, specifically in Alphabet. While the market views this as an 'Abel vs. Buffett' stylistic shift, the reality is that holding $380 billion in cash while dumping high-quality compounders like Visa and Mastercard signals a defensive posture against current valuations. The Delta re-entry is the most baffling move; it contradicts the core Berkshire tenet of avoiding capital-intensive, cyclical businesses. Unless Abel sees a structural shift in airline pricing power that Buffett missed, this looks like a tactical error that risks eroding the 'fortress balance sheet' reputation.
The portfolio turnover might not be a stylistic shift at all, but rather a necessary tax-efficient pruning of smaller 'Combs-managed' positions to simplify the balance sheet before a major, non-equity acquisition.
"Abel is concentrating Berkshire into fewer, higher-conviction bets (Alphabet, Delta, NYT) while liquidating legacy Buffett positions, a shift toward active stock-picking that contradicts Berkshire's historical edge and increases execution risk."
Abel's portfolio overhaul signals a genuine strategic pivot, not mere housekeeping. The Alphabet 224% increase to $16.6B (now 7th largest holding) is the headline, but the real story is ruthlessness: 15 positions eliminated including Visa, Mastercard, UnitedHealth—high-quality compounders Buffett held for years. Chevron cut 35% despite energy tailwinds. Delta's return after 2020 exit suggests Abel sees structural airline improvement post-consolidation, though this contradicts Buffett's 2007 'shoot Orville' thesis. Cash rose to $397.4B. The portfolio is becoming more concentrated and more aggressive on AI/tech while shedding defensive quality. This looks less like Buffett-endorsed continuity and more like Abel asserting control.
If Buffett endorsed these moves (article hedges: 'endorsed, or possibly even suggested'), then this isn't a break—it's evolution. And a 38% Alphabet rally in six weeks could be momentum-chasing rather than prescience; we won't know until earnings confirm the thesis.
"N/A"
[Unavailable]
"Abel's reshuffle signals Berkshire moving toward growth and cyclicals, but concentration risk and potential timing missteps could offset near-term upside."
Abel is clearly reshaping Berkshire’s equity book, leaning into Alphabet and Delta while pruning a broad list of former bets (Amazon, UnitedHealth, Visa, Mastercard, etc.). The Alphabet move is the marquee signal and could reflect conviction that tech platforms still trade at favorable odds, rather than Buffett’s classic value bias. Delta marks a return to airlines after years of shunning, a high-beta bet on demand recovery. Yet 13F data is backward-looking and Berkshire’s cash reserve remains enormous, so we should treat this as a tactical rebalancing rather than a full strategic pivot. Key risks: concentration in Alphabet, and cyclical exposure to travel, plus execution uncertainty about Abel’s authority.
The airline and Alphabet bets could underperform if multiples compress or demand slows; the 13F window misses options and the true leverage Berkshire may be using. Also, Abel may still be operating under Buffett’s shadow, so the certainty of any lasting pivot is uncertain.
"The Delta position is a tactical hedge against cash-drag and inflation rather than a fundamental shift in Berkshire's airline thesis."
Claude, you’re misinterpreting the Delta re-entry as a strategic pivot; it’s likely a hedge against the very cash pile Berkshire is hoarding. With $397B in cash, inflation is the silent killer of their real returns. Buying cyclical, capital-intensive laggards like Delta isn't about 'airline pricing power'—it’s a tactical attempt to capture yield and inflation-linked upside that pure cash can't provide. Abel isn't betting on the skies; he’s betting against the erosion of his massive cash hoard.
"Delta as an inflation hedge is backwards; cyclical airlines suffer in stagflation scenarios, not benefit."
Gemini's inflation-hedge thesis for Delta is creative but doesn't survive scrutiny. Airlines have negative real returns in inflationary environments—fuel costs spike faster than pricing power materializes, and labor contracts lock in wage inflation. If Abel wanted inflation protection, energy (Chevron cut 35%) or commodities make far more sense. Delta's 35% debt-to-cap ratio also means Berkshire absorbs refinancing risk. This reads as conviction on demand, not macro hedging.
[Unavailable]
"Delta is not an inflation hedge; it is a cyclical, high-risk bet with refinancing risk that Berkshire should avoid."
Gemini, your inflation-hedge take on Delta hinges on a misread of airline economics. Fuel shocks and labor costs tend to outpace fares in inflationary regimes, leaving real returns negative even with demand recovery. Delta’s 35% debt-to-capital amplifies refinancing risk for Berkshire in a high-rate environment, not a durable hedge. If Abel’s aim were inflation protection, energy or materials would be better bets; Delta looks like a cyclical, high-beta exposure, not ballast.
The panel generally agrees that Greg Abel's portfolio overhaul signals a strategic shift away from Warren Buffett's 'cigar-butt' equity picking toward a more concentrated, high-conviction strategy focused on secular growth, particularly in Alphabet. However, the re-entry into Delta Air Lines is seen as a controversial move that contradicts Berkshire's core principles and may expose the company to unnecessary risks.
The potential for high returns in AI/tech and a more aggressive investment strategy is the main opportunity flagged.
The concentration in Alphabet and cyclical exposure to travel, along with uncertainty about Abel's authority, are the key risks highlighted by the panel.