Berkshire sells $8.1B in equities

Berkshire Hathaway’s latest regulatory filings show the company was still selling more stocks than it bought in the first quarter, even as Greg Abel settled into his first months as chief executive. The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate bought about $15.94 billion of stocks and sold about $24.09 billion, for net sales of roughly $8.1 billion in the January-to-March period. Berkshire’s cash pile rose to a record $397 billion by the end of the quarter, according to its first-quarter results. ### Where does the $8.1 billion figure come from? Berkshire Hathaway reported the number in its first-quarter disclosures, which together showed estimated stock purchases of about $16.0 billion and estimated sales of about $24.1 billion. Morningstar said those transactions produced net sales of $8.1 billion in the quarter, while Bloomberg separately reported Berkshire’s cash hoard climbed to $397 billion after the company offloaded a net $8.1 billion of equity holdings. (money.usnews.com) May 15 was the key filing date for investors tracking the stock portfolio. Berkshire’s Form 13F, filed that day, listed its U.S.-traded equity holdings as of March 31 and showed a much smaller list of positions than in the prior quarter. Reuters reported the filing covered most of Berkshire’s $288 billion equity portfolio, while Morningstar put Berkshire’s 13F-reportable U.S. equity securities at $263.1 billion at quarter-end. (morningstar.com) The difference reflects that the 13F does not include some foreign holdings held abroad, including Berkshire’s Japanese trading-house stakes. ### What did Greg Abel actually change? Greg Abel said in February that he oversaw 94% of Berkshire’s stock holdings, with investment manager Ted Weschler handling 6%, according to Reuters. That matters because the first-quarter filing is the clearest public look yet at how the portfolio changed after Abel succeeded Warren Buffett as chief executive. Reuters said most of the sales were likely directed by Abel, who inherited most of Berkshire’s equity portfolio, including the portion previously associated with Todd Combs, who left in December for JPMorgan Chase. (money.usnews.com) Morningstar said Berkshire had 29 reportable holdings at the end of March, down from 42 in the prior quarter. The research firm said the company had moved faster than expected to cut positions and concentrate the portfolio in fewer names. Forbes separately described the first quarter as Berkshire’s fourteenth straight quarter of net stock sales and said 91% of the portfolio was concentrated in the top 10 holdings. (money.usnews.com) ### Which stocks were sold, and which ones were added? Reuters reported Berkshire disclosed a new $2.65 billion investment in Delta Air Lines and a small new stake in Macy’s. The same filing showed Berkshire exited or cut a range of smaller holdings, including Amazon.com, UnitedHealth Group, Visa and Mastercard. (morningstar.com) Morningstar listed some of the largest estimated sales in the quarter as 45.8 million Chevron shares, 8.3 million Visa shares, 4.0 million Mastercard shares, 12.4 million Constellation Brands shares, 5.0 million UnitedHealth shares, 3.4 million Domino’s Pizza shares and 3.6 million Aon shares. Those sales were partly offset by purchases of 36.4 million Alphabet Class A shares, 3.6 million Alphabet Class C shares and 39.8 million Delta shares, Morningstar said. (money.usnews.com) ### Why is Alphabet getting so much attention? Alphabet became one of Berkshire’s largest common-stock investments after the company more than tripled its stake, Reuters reported. The filing showed the Google parent was worth about $16.6 billion in Berkshire’s portfolio at quarter-end. (morningstar.com) The shift is getting attention because it stands out against a broader reduction in the number of holdings. Morningstar said Berkshire had expected to “winnow” the stock portfolio to fewer, more concentrated positions under Abel, and the first-quarter filing showed that process already underway. That interpretation came from Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren, not from Berkshire itself. (money.usnews.com) ### Did the X posts add anything new? X posts on May 18 framed Berkshire’s moves as part of a broader defensive repositioning by institutional investors, but the core facts were already visible in Berkshire’s filings and in subsequent reporting. The verified, reportable details are that Berkshire was a net seller of about $8.1 billion in stocks in the first quarter, increased its Alphabet stake sharply, added Delta and Macy’s, and ended March with a record $397 billion in cash. (morningstar.com) Mid-August 2026 is the next routine checkpoint for investors following the portfolio. Berkshire’s second-quarter Form 13F is expected then, and it will show the company’s U.S.-listed holdings as of June 30. (sec.gov) (money.usnews.com)