Warren Buffett and Greg Abel walk by the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3, 2025.
David A. Grogen | CNBC
Berkshire HathawayThe overhaul of its portfolio sent some stocks higher on Monday, as investors analyzed the company’s latest bets and exits revealed in the conglomerate’s quarterly filing.
The Omaha-based conglomerate disclosed its quarterly earnings in a regulatory filing Friday, offering the first look at the portfolio under new CEO Greg Abel, who took over earlier this year from legendary investor Warren Buffett.
One of the biggest moves from the latest filing was the new share size Delta Air Lines. Berkshire bought 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 at the end of March. Delta ended up 2.5% in market trade.
The acquisition of Delta marked a return to the Berkshire airline industry. Six years ago, Buffett surprised the market by exiting the entire US airline portfolio of Berkshire, launching properties worth more than four billion dollars in United, American, Southwest and Delta Air Lines. Buffett argued at the time that the pandemic had forever changed consumer habits and the need for travel.
Berkshire also started a position Macy’s last quarter. Shares of the department store jumped nearly 4% in the market after the filing revealed that Berkshire took a new stake worth about $55 million at the end of the first quarter. The stake is very small in the conglomerate, so many thought it was bought by investment lieutenant Ted Weschler, who owns 6% of the equity portfolio.
Meanwhile, the Omaha-based conglomerate significantly increased its new position in Alphabet, making Google’s parent the seventh largest. And among Berkshire’s biggest holdings, the company cut its stake in Chevron.
Berkshire sold a number of shares last quarter, possibly as part of an effort to free up positions tied to Todd Combs, who is leaving the company at the end of 2025 to join JPMorgan. Combs was personally hired by Buffett to manage Berkshire’s equity portfolio alongside Weschler.
Significant sales are included MasterCard again VisaCombs’ early investments mirrored his former hedge fund positions, as well as full exits Amazonanother handle that seems to be tied to him.
Other stocks Berkshire sold include UnitedHealth Group, Aon, Pool Corporation, Domino’s Pizza and Charter Communications.
Abel, who was part of Berkshire’s annual meeting earlier this month, said he continues to consult with the 95-year-old Buffett about investment decisions.
“He’s in the office every day, so we talk every day when I’m in Omaha, we always connect,” Abel said in March. “When I go, as I was yesterday, I often check to catch what he sees, what he hears, what I hear. So if not every day, then every few days.”
– Alex Crippen contributed to this report.
