Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) (BRK.B) Q2 2026 13F revealed that the company added another $17 billion worth of Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) shares in the quarter. The news wasn’t surprising, as the conglomerate previously disclosed that it invested $10 billion in Alphabet’s private share placement as part of an $80 billion capital raise, which was intended to build the war chest for the Google parent’s burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) investments. The quantum of share purchases in the quarter, however, suggests that Berkshire likely added another $7 billion through open market purchases.
Alphabet Is Now Berkshire’s Third Biggest Holding
Following the Q2 purchase, Berkshire’s stake in Alphabet has now surged to $36.6 billion, making it the company’s third biggest holding after Apple (AAPL) and American Express (AXP). Importantly, the Alphabet stake now exceeds Coca-Cola (KO), a long-term holding that Warren Buffett initiated in 1988.
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Berkshire first bought Alphabet shares in Q3 2025 and more than tripled its stake in Q1 2026. While many, including me, thought that the position was initiated by Greg Abel, who took over as CEO beginning this year, Buffett said in an interview last month that he personally initiated that investment.
www.barchart.comBuffett Admitted to a Mistake in Missing Out on Alphabet
Notably, in 2019, the “Oracle of Omaha” admitted to a mistake in not buying Alphabet and Amazon (AMZN). The nonagenarian is not that big a fan of the company even now, unlike Apple, which he has praised on more than one occasion. Referring to Alphabet, in a CNBC interview, Buffett said, “I would say that I don’t like it as well as at least four or five other businesses that we own.”
Alphabet is among the preeminent AI plays out there, and in absolute terms, its 2026 capex is only the second to Amazon. Buffett, who has historically shied away from tech companies, is not a big fan of AI either and compared AI’s risks to those of nuclear bombs and raised concerns about the technology being an enabler for scammers. However, with Alphabet, Berkshire is playing the AI story.
Can Buying GOOG Now Reverse Buffett’s Previous Mistake?
There are bound to be comparisons between Berkshire's purchase of Apple and Alphabet shares. Buffett first bought Apple shares in Q1 2016 and gradually built the stake to make the iPhone maker its top holding. At its peak, Berkshire held a 6% stake in the iPhone maker, valued at around $174 billion, and it accounted for roughly half of its portfolio of publicly traded securities.
Incidentally, Apple was Buffett’s best investment ever, going by the absolute dollar profits that the conglomerate made in the stock. Berkshire has realized gains of over $100 billion on its Apple investment and is sitting on tens of billions of dollars in unrealized gains on its remaining holdings.
However, I would argue that Buffett entered Apple much earlier than Berkshire is buying GOOG shares now. For context, Apple became a trillion-dollar company only in 2018, which was over two years after Buffett initiated the position. In July, Apple became only the second company to have a market cap over $5 trillion, and while the stock has since pared gains, the metric is still in the ballpark of $4.5 trillion.
In contrast, Alphabet is already a $4.2 trillion behemoth. While GOOG stock could still deliver the goods, I don’t expect it to be as profitable an investment for Berkshire considering the wonders Buffett achieved with Apple.
That said, it does not imply that Alphabet is a terrible investment. The company’s topline growth is growing at a brisk pace, and revenues increased 24% year-over-year (YoY) to $119.8 billion in Q2. Its cloud revenues rose 82% YoY in the quarter, which was almost 20 basis points higher than Street estimates.
The stock’s valuation looks a bit more digestible now compared to when it peaked above $400, at which point I noted that it would be prudent to take profits off the table. As for Alphabet doing wonders for Abel the way Apple did for Buffett, we'll have to wait and see, but I am not too sold on its possibility. To sum it up, by buying Alphabet at these levels, Berkshire might not be able to reverse the mistake that Buffett admittedly made in not buying the stock earlier.
On the date of publication, Mohit Oberoi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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