Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) on Solana

Greg Abel, Warren Buffett's hand-picked successor, has moved quickly to put his own stamp on Berkshire Hathaway's equity portfolio since taking over as CEO. Roughly 30% of Berkshire's stock portfolio is now concentrated in Apple and Alphabet combined, with Alphabet alone climbing to approximately 9% of holdings and ranking as a top-five position — a stake Abel has been actively building. The tilt toward big-cap technology reflects a meaningful shift in tone from Buffett's historically consumer-and-financials-weighted approach.

Among Berkshire's less-scrutinized positions, grocery chain Kroger stands out as a potential value play within the portfolio. Kroger trades near its 52-week low around $58 per share and carries a forward P/E of roughly 11x alongside a five-year PEG ratio of 0.57 — below the threshold typically associated with undervaluation. Wall Street's median price target of $72.50 implies about 24% upside, and the company has raised its dividend for 19 consecutive years with a payout ratio of just 21%, leaving room for further increases. As a defensive consumer staple, Kroger offers a counterweight to Berkshire's growing technology concentration.

Berkshire Hathaway's Q1 2026 13F filing disclosed a $2.65 billion position in Delta Air Lines, representing roughly 1% of Berkshire's portfolio and marking Greg Abel's first significant airline investment since succeeding Warren Buffett as CEO. Abel initiated the stake during Q1 as airline stocks sold off sharply following the Iran war outbreak in late February, which caused jet fuel prices to nearly double — buying into weakness rather than waiting for clarity.

The move is a direct reversal of Buffett's long-held stance on airlines, which he famously called a "bottomless pit" before exiting the sector entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Abel's thesis appears anchored in Delta's structural advantages, particularly its Pennsylvania oil refinery — acquired in 2012 for roughly $270 million — which offset approximately $300 million in Q1 fuel costs despite the broader industry's $2 billion net fuel cost increase. The bet signals that Abel is willing to pursue counter-cyclical, thesis-driven investments in sectors his predecessor avoided, and investors will be watching upcoming 13F filings and shareholder communications to determine whether airlines represent a one-off call or a broader shift in how Berkshire deploys capital.

Taylor Morrison Home (NYSE: TMHC) shareholders vote July 22 on Berkshire Hathaway's $8.5 billion acquisition of the homebuilder, which carries a premium of more than 20% over its $6.6 billion market capitalization. Approval is considered highly likely given the premium on offer, but a rejection would pressure Taylor Morrison's share price significantly.

The deal marks an early capital deployment move by new CEO Greg Abel, who plans to consolidate Berkshire's housing businesses into a unified operation — a departure from Warren Buffett's longstanding policy of leaving subsidiaries to run independently. The acquisition draws from Berkshire's nearly $400 billion cash reserve, representing a modest but strategically notable commitment that investors will watch as a signal of how Abel intends to manage the conglomerate going forward.

While Wall Street focuses on CEO Greg Abel's capital allocation moves — including Berkshire's growing Alphabet stake — portfolio manager Ted Weschler has been the quiet outperformer of 2026, with his concentrated positions in DaVita (up roughly 102% year-to-date) and Sirius XM (up around 50%) generating outsized returns within Berkshire's equity portfolio. Weschler, who joined Berkshire in 2012 after paying a record $5.25 million to dine with Warren Buffett, manages a smaller sleeve of the portfolio independently of Todd Combs but has consistently earned his keep during periods when the broader conglomerate has lagged the S&P 500. His success highlights that Berkshire's investment engine remains active beneath the surface even as Abel's strategic and operational choices dominate the narrative in the post-Buffett transition. For shareholders, Weschler's DaVita and Sirius positions represent a value-oriented, contrarian thread running alongside Abel's more technology-friendly tilt.

Simply Wall St's discounted cash flow model puts Berkshire Hathaway's fair value at roughly $943,786 per BRK.A share against a recent close near $756,000, implying the stock trades approximately 20% below intrinsic value. The analysis attributes the gap to the market's cautious re-rating of Berkshire under new CEO Greg Abel, citing risks that a leadership transition could unsettle investor confidence or that the company's record cash hoard — near $397 billion — may weigh on returns if left undeployed longer than expected.

Abel's decision to commit around $10 billion to a private placement in Alphabet has been highlighted as an early signal that he intends to actively deploy capital and is comfortable with large technology bets. Analysts note the move reinforces confidence in Berkshire's diversified operating businesses and its long track record of disciplined capital allocation, which underpin the bull case that the current valuation discount represents an opportunity rather than a structural re-rating.

Berkshire Hathaway has accumulated roughly $41 billion in Alphabet stock, making it the conglomerate's fourth-largest single-company equity position — larger than its Coca-Cola holding, though behind Apple and American Express. Berkshire began buying in Q3 2025 and added a $10 billion private placement announced June 1, 2026, bringing combined Class A and Class C share holdings to over 86 million shares as of the latest 13F filing.

Analysts point to three drivers behind the concentration: Alphabet's exceptional business fundamentals (22% year-over-year revenue growth to $110 billion in Q1, a 36% operating margin, and $73 billion in free cash flow in 2025), a valuation that looks reasonable at a 12-month average P/E of 26.6 versus the S&P 500's 25, and confidence in Alphabet's AI capital expenditure program. Berkshire appears to view Alphabet's planned $180–190 billion in AI capex as likely to generate satisfactory returns, given the company's presence across chips, cloud infrastructure, model development, and AI-powered advertising tools.

Berkshire Hathaway ended Q1 2026 with a record $397 billion cash pile — up from $373 billion at year-end 2025 — representing more than one-third of the company's $1.1 trillion market cap. Despite the headline figure, new CEO Greg Abel, who took over in January 2026, has been actively deploying capital: a $6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison at a 24% premium, a $10 billion private placement in Alphabet pushing Berkshire's total stake past $26 billion, and a resumption of share buybacks with $234 million repurchased in March after a 21-month pause.

Analysts characterize the Abel era as "continuity with a harder edge," noting his willingness to enter new sectors such as homebuilding and gain AI exposure through Alphabet while maintaining Apple as the largest portfolio position. With Q1 operating earnings up roughly 18% year-over-year and the stock trading near 1.5x book value and 15x earnings, some analysts view Berkshire as a reasonable holding for patient investors — neither a bargain nor overpriced at current levels.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) announced on June 29, 2026 that Ben Wyatt has been promoted to Head of Marine for North America and the UK, consolidating regional leadership of the division under a single executive. The restructuring also includes promotions for Gregg Shannon and Jim Norman and the hiring of Kevin Kempf to lead Ocean Marine Cargo, signaling a broader effort to build out a unified global marine insurance platform with consistent underwriting standards and pricing discipline across regions.

The move reflects the operational focus that has characterized BHSI under Berkshire Hathaway's broader insurance strategy, where clearer accountability and structured capital allocation have become recurring themes. Marine is a specialized, capital-intensive line, and centralizing its North American and UK operations under one leader is consistent with Berkshire's long-standing emphasis on underwriting rigor and risk management over premium growth.
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Berkshire Hathaway ended Q1 2026 with a record $397 billion in cash, equivalents, and short-term Treasury bills — up from $373 billion at year-end 2025 and representing more than a third of the company's total market value. The company has been a net seller of equities for over twelve consecutive quarters, with roughly $150 billion more in stock sales than purchases since late 2022.

Analysts and commentators have debated whether the position signals an impending market correction, but the more straightforward read is selectivity: Warren Buffett told shareholders at the May 2026 annual meeting that investors are in an unusually speculative mood, making attractively priced opportunities scarce. New CEO Greg Abel has begun deploying capital — including an $8.5 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison and a $10 billion addition to Berkshire's Alphabet stake — but those moves have barely dented the cash reserve, underscoring just how disciplined the firm remains in a historically expensive market.