Warren Buffett and Greg Abel walkthrough the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3, 2025.
David A. Grogen | CNBC
Berkshire Hathaway‘s revamp of its portfolio sent certain stocks higher Monday, as investors parsed the company’s latest bets and exits disclosed in the conglomerate’s quarterly filings.
The Omaha-based conglomerate disclosed its quarter-end equity holdings in a regulatory filing Friday, offering one of the first looks at the portfolio under new CEO Greg Abel, who took over at the start of the year from legendary investor Warren Buffett.
One of the biggest moves from the latest filing was a sizeable new stake in Delta Airlines. Berkshire purchased 39.8 million shares in the airline, valued at $2.6 billion at the end of March, making it the company’s 14th largest holding by the end of March. Delta was last up 2.5% in premarket trading.
The Delta purchase marked a return to the airline industry for Berkshire. Six years ago, Buffett surprised the market by exiting Berkshire’s entire U.S. airline portfolio, unloading positions worth more than $4 billion in United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Buffett argued at the time that the pandemic had permanently reshaped consumer habits and travel demand.
Berkshire also initiated a small position in Macy’s last quarter. The department store shares jumped nearly 4% in premarket after the filing revealed Berkshire took a new stake valued at roughly $55 million at the end of the first quarter. The stake is very small for the conglomerate, so many speculated it was bought by investment lieutenant Ted Weschler, who manages 6% of the equity portfolio.
Meanwhile, the Omaha-based conglomerate significantly increased its relatively new position in Alphabet, making the Google parent its seventh-largest holding. Also among Berkshire’s largest holdings, the firm trimmed its stake in Chevron.
Berkshire sold a slew of stocks last quarter, likely as part of an effort to unwind positions tied to Todd Combs, who left the company at the end of 2025 to join JPMorgan. Combs had been personally recruited by Buffett to manage Berkshire’s equity portfolio, alongside Weschler.
Notable sales included Mastercard and Visa, two early Combs investments that reflected positions from his former hedge fund, as well as a full exit from Amazon, another holding widely seen as tied to him.
Other stocks Berkshire sold included UnitedHealth Group, Aon, Pool Corporation, Domino’s Pizza and Charter Communications.
Abel said he continues to consult the 95-year-old Buffett on investment decisions.
“He’s in the office every day, so we’re talking every day if I’m in Omaha, we’re always connecting,” Abel said in March. “If I’m traveling, like I was yesterday, I often check in just to catch up on what he’s seeing, what he’s hearing, what am I feeling. So if it’s not every day, it’s every couple days.”
— Alex Crippen contributed to this report