Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed a new position in Alphabet, making the Google parent the conglomerate’s 10th largest equity holding at the end of September, according to a regulatory filing.
Berkshire disclosed a $4.3 billion stake in Alphabet at the end of the third quarter, a surprising move given Buffett’s traditional value investing philosophy and reluctance toward high-growth, tech names. While Berkshire has owned Apple for years, Buffett has called it more of a consumer products company than a pure tech play.
The purchase was also likely made by Berkshire investment managers Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, who have been more active in technology names. One of them initiated an investment in Amazon back in 2019, and Berkshire still owns $2.2 billion worth of the e-commerce shares.
Alphabet has been the market’s standout winner this year with shares rallying 46%. Strong demand for artificial intelligence has driven solid momentum in Alphabet’s cloud business.
Buffett previously admitted that he “blew it” by failing to invest early in Google even though he had insight into its advertising potential. Berkshire’s auto insurance unit Geico was an early customer of Google, paying the search engine 10 bucks every time someone clicked on the ad at the time.
“I had seen the product work, and I knew the kind of margins [they had],” Buffett said in 2018. “I didn’t know enough about technology to know whether this really was the one that would stop the competitive race.”
Trimming Apple
Berkshire continued paring back its massive Apple stake, trimming the position by another 15% in the quarter to $60.7 billion.
Buffett went on a head-turning selling spree in Apple in 2024, slashing two-thirds of the shares Berkshire held in a surprising move for the famously long-term-focused investor. Berkshire also cut the holding in the second quarter of this year.
Even with the continuous sales, the iPhone maker remains Berkshire’s biggest equity holding.
The conglomerate also dialed back its Bank of America stake by 6% to a bet worth just under $30 billion. Berkshire reduced holdings in Verisign and DaVita as well in the third quarter.
Berkshire has been a net seller of stocks for 12 straight quarters as valuations continued to climb in the tech-driven bull market.
The 95-year-old Buffett is stepping down as CEO at the end of the year, with longtime lieutenant Greg Abel set to take the reins. Investors have been watching Berkshire’s positioning closely for clues about the next era of leadership and how its investment approach may evolve.
