Greg Abel took over as Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) (BRK.B) CEO earlier this year, and his stamp is now quite visible. The Q1 13F filing showed that Berkshire reduced its holdings of publicly traded stocks from 42 to 29. Looking at some of the notable buys, it added Macy’s (M) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) while doubling down on Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) in the March quarter.
Abel inherited a cash pile of $373 billion from the “Oracle of Omaha” and is now putting that money to work. Berkshire has announced a deal to acquire Taylor Morrison Homes Corp (TMHC) for $6.8 billion and agreed to buy $10 billion worth of Alphabet shares in a private placement. Berkshire arguably got a good deal in both these transactions, as while it is acquiring Taylor Morrison Homes for less than its tangible book value, the company would receive Alphabet shares at a discount of more than 6% over its Monday, June 1, closing price.
More Top Stocks Daily: Go behind Wall Street’s hottest headlines with Barchart’s Active Investor newsletter.
www.barchart.comAfter the recent investment, Alphabet would become among the top four holdings for Berkshire. Apple (AAPL) remains Berkshire's biggest holding despite Buffett having sold the bulk of the stake.
Apple Was Buffett’s Best-Ever Investment
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 unrealized gains of around $50 billion on its remaining holdings.
While many see Apple as a tech company, Buffett sees it as a consumer products company. Berkshire was once Apple’s second-biggest shareholder but was the biggest shareholder for all practical reasons, as Vanguard, the biggest shareholder, is a passive investor. Buffett bet huge on Apple and held over a 6% stake in what was then the biggest company on the planet. At its peak, Berkshire's stake in the iPhone maker was valued at around $174 billion, and it accounted for roughly half of its portfolio of publicly traded securities.
Buffett was all praise for Apple products and the company’s management and even regretted selling shares initially. However, he subsequently sold the bulk of the stake and alluded that he sold the shares for tax purposes in anticipation of higher taxes in the future. Also, the nonagenarian was on a selling spree over the last couple of years as he found the market valuations stretched. Market valuation might still not appear tempting to Buffett as the artificial intelligence (AI) euphoria has lifted markets, particularly tech stocks.
Buffett Is an AI Skeptic
Buffett shied away from tech and AI stocks, staying within what he calls his “circle of competence.” Speaking at Berkshire’s annual meeting in 2024, Buffett acknowledged that he “doesn’t understand a damn thing” about AI while adding that he believes it has “enormous potential for good and enormous potential for harm.” He compared its risks to those of nuclear bombs and raised concerns about the technology being an enabler for scammers.
Alphabet Is a Prominent AI Play
Alphabet has established itself as among the prominent AI plays, and the recent capital raise is intended to support its burgeoning capex towards building AI infrastructure. The Google parent raised its 2026 capex budget to between $180 billion and $190 billion during the Q1 2026 earnings call and said that its 2027 capex would “significantly increase” compared to the current year. While markets have of late been wary of tech companies’ ever-rising capex, GOOG stock received a different treatment following the Q1 confessional compared to other hyperscalers whose shares plunged following the report, in part due to concerns over rising AI capex.
The divergence is not without reason, as Alphabet has impressed with AI monetization. AI search hasn’t cannibalized the company’s core search and digital ad business as feared and has instead helped propel growth. Moreover, Alphabet’s cloud segment has been growing at a phenomenal pace on strong AI demand. The segment's revenues rose 63% year-over-year (YOY)in Q1 2026, with the growth far outstripping what Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) delivered.
www.barchart.comAlphabet's tensor processing unit (TPU) and graphics processing units (GPUs) are also gaining traction with third-party customers. While Alphabet does not provide standalone numbers for these, during the Q1 2026 earnings call, it said that its chips are part of the $462 billion cloud backlog, which incidentally doubled in the quarter.
Can Alphabet Be Abel’s Best Investment?
I have been bullish on Alphabet for quite some time, even as its valuations have been a breaking point at times. Previously, I had noted that GOOG looked richly valued near the $400 price level, and it would be prudent to book profits in the stock. With the stock now having come off its recent highs, I believe it can be nibbled at these levels.
As for Alphabet doing the wonders for Abel the way Apple did for Buffett, we'll have to wait and see. But, a lot would depend on the size of the investment, as the Apple stake was huge even by Berkshire's standards. However, by betting on an AI/tech play, the Berkshire CEO seems to have expanded the pool of companies in which the company might now invest.
On the date of publication, Mohit Oberoi had a position in: GOOG , AAPL , MSFT , AMZN . All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
More news from Barchart
Wall Street Is Cheering Broadcom Stock. It Wants to Supercharge the Smart Home Industry. Palantir Lags the S&P 500 in 2026. How to Play the Once-Leading AI Stock Now. Apple Was Warren Buffett’s Best Investment. GOOGL Stock Could Be Greg Abel’s Claim to Fame. ARM Stock Is Supercharging Its Path to $15 Billion in Chip Sales