Berkshire Hathaway’s second-quarter 13F filing, released Friday, revealed the most aggressive equity buying by the conglomerate since 2022 and underscored how CEO Greg Abel is reshaping the portfolio after Warren Buffett moved to chairman. The company was a net buyer of stocks for the first time in 14 quarters, purchasing about $23.5 billion in equities while selling only $3.7 billion. Its cash pile fell from a record $397.4 billion to $365.5 billion as it deployed capital across technology, airlines, housing and Japanese equities.
The centerpiece was Alphabet. Berkshire increased its stake by 83% to roughly 106 million shares worth $37.9 billion, making Alphabet its third-largest U.S. listed holding behind Apple and American Express. The move included a $10 billion private placement arranged in early June to help fund Alphabet’s AI infrastructure spending, plus another 19.6 million shares bought on the open market. Warren Buffett said he was behind the decision to invest in Alphabet, and Abel supported it.
Beyond Alphabet, Berkshire raised its Delta Air Lines stake by 44% to 57.3 million shares valued at about $5.4 billion, and increased its Lennar position by nearly 30% to 13.1 million shares worth about $1.19 billion. It also opened a small new position in D.R. Horton and disclosed investments of roughly $2 billion in Tokio Marine and more than $1 billion in Japanese trading companies. The filing also showed $4.5 billion in buybacks, the highest since 2021, and completion of the Taylor Morrison acquisition.
On the selling side, Berkshire roughly halved its stakes in Capital One and Nucor, trimmed Bank of America and Kroger, and fully exited Constellation Brands. Attention remains on Kraft Heinz, with Abel previously calling the investment disappointing and saying its return was “well short of adequate.” While speculation has centered on possible new positions such as Microsoft, the filing confirms a more active Berkshire that is finally putting its large cash reserve to work.
