For decades, Berkshire Hathaway’s quarterly stock filings have been treated like a roadmap into Warren Buffett’s thinking.
However, the latest one feels very special.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) unveiled a wide-ranging portfolio overhaul in its latest 13F filing, adding a big new stake in Delta Air Lines (DAL), increasing its stake in Alphabet (GOOGL) (GOOG), and exiting a handful of household names, including Amazon (AMZN), UnitedHealth (UNH), Visa (V), and Mastercard (MA).
The company bought $15.94 billion in equities but sold $24.09 billion during the first quarter.
This isn’t just ordinary portfolio upkeep.
The filing comes in the first year of Greg Abel’s stint as Berkshire CEO and could provide one of the clearest early indications yet that the company’s investing approach is starting to change.
Buffett remains the heart of Berkshire’s identity. But investors are increasingly asking what Berkshire looks like after Buffett, and the filing offers a glimpse of a response that might involve speedier portfolio reshuffling, bigger technology bets and less loyalty to smaller legacy positions.
The biggest surprise may not have been what Berkshire bought.
It may have been what Berkshire no longer wanted to own.
Berkshire Hathaway makes aggressive moves in key sectors
Wall Street quickly took note of Berkshire’s new interest in Delta Air Lines. Buffett famously soured on airline equities during the Covid epidemic.
Berkshire jettisoned billions of dollars in airline holdings in 2020 after Buffett warned the sector had fundamentally altered. Now Berkshire is back with a stake worth around $2.65 billion in Delta, Reuters said.
That alone would have been remarkable in the filing.
But Berkshire’s pivot into Alphabet may have been even more critical.
Berkshire’s holding in Google’s parent was a lot bigger as the business practically tripled its Alphabet position to roughly 58 million shares. AP pegged the stake at approximately $17 billion, but Barron’s stated it was worth closer to $23 billion, reflecting different valuation timing.
Key Berkshire Hathaway 13F takeaways
Berkshire initiated a multibillion-dollar stake in Delta Air Lines.
Berkshire exited Amazon, UnitedHealth, Visa, and Mastercard.
Berkshire reduced Chevron by about 35%.
The filing is one of the first major portfolio snapshots of Greg Abel’s CEO era.
This is a philosophical shift of significance for a firm that has always been connected with banks, insurers, railroads, and consumer brands.
Buffett notably shunned much of the tech space for years, favoring firms he saw as easier to comprehend and predict. That modified the story somewhat, thanks to Berkshire’s massive investment in Apple (AAPL), but Alphabet looks to be another cornerstone tech holding currently.
Berkshire, meanwhile, aggressively cut or exited stakes in a number of sectors.
The conglomerate offloaded its stakes in Amazon, UnitedHealth, Visa, Mastercard, Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), Pool (POOL) and Aon (AON). It also trimmed its holding in Chevron (CVX) by almost 35%.
That mix of purchasing and selling made one thing clear: Berkshire wasn’t just tinkering on the periphery.
Greg Abel’s Berkshire may be taking shape
The broader importance of the filing may have less to do with any one stock and more to do with what the sum of moves suggests about the future of Berkshire.
Berkshire became famous for maintaining positions for decades on a nearly unlimited basis. Buffett has said that his favorite holding period is “forever.” The corporation established its name on patience and discipline.
That culture doesn’t seem to be dying out.
Related: Warren Buffet’s Berkshire makes major $2.65B move in surging stock
Apple, Coca-Cola (KO), American Express (AXP) and Moody’s (MCO) are still among Berkshire’s core holdings.
But the latest filing implies Berkshire may be getting more flexible under Abel.
More Warren Buffett:
Rather than keeping a long tail of lesser investments, Berkshire is more likely to jettison names that no longer fit with its highest-conviction themes. The corporation also appears more willing to explore deeper into sectors related to AI and digital infrastructure.
That could matter all the more as Wall Street increasingly likes firms tied to the AI buildout.
Alphabet provides direct exposure to cloud computing, AI-powered advertising and corporate software growth at a time when investors are investing billions into artificial intelligence infrastructure. At the same time, Delta provides a play on a travel sector that has shown resilience in the face of rising operational expenses and economic uncertainty.
The exits of Visa and Mastercard were notable since Berkshire kept American Express.
That could indicate that Berkshire still has a fondness for the more general payments business, but favors the closed-loop ecology and customer loyalty advantages offered by American Express over the more general transaction-based models utilized by Visa and Mastercard.
The Chevron reduction may also be a sign of shifting priorities.
Energy has been one of Berkshire’s biggest themes recently, but reducing Chevron while adding to Alphabet could mean Berkshire sees greater long-term upside in AI infrastructure than oil markets.
Warren Buffett attends Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting in Omaha.Photo by JOHANNES EISELE on Getty Images
Investors should be wary of overreacting to a quarter’s worth of filings. Berkshire’s portfolio decisions frequently play out over years, not months.
But this 13F filing seemed a little too transparent.
The filing indicated a Berkshire Hathaway that still values discipline, scale, and long-term investing, but one that may also be approaching a new era where capital cycles faster, technology matters more, and fewer jobs are safe just because they have been around for years.
And perhaps that was the most crucial takeaway of all for investors looking for signs about Berkshire after Buffett.
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