Berkshire Hathaway lifts Alphabet holding by 83% in June quarter
Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Alphabet to about 106 million shares, valued at roughly $38 billion, as part of its largest quarterly stock purchases in years.
Berkshire Hathaway added roughly 83% to its Alphabet position during the second quarter, bringing the holding to about 106 million shares worth nearly $38 billion at the end of June. The increase came after the conglomerate agreed to purchase $10 billion of Alphabet stock at a discount in a private placement and bought an additional 19.6 million shares on the open market, according to a portfolio disclosure released on Friday.
Alphabet became Berkshire's third-largest U.S. equity holding, behind Apple and American Express. While Warren Buffett historically avoided technology stocks, he has said he approved the Alphabet investment last year, and the decision appears to have been made jointly with new CEO Greg Abel.
The search-engine company's shares have risen about 170% over the past three years, driven by expectations that it will benefit from growth in artificial-intelligence-related advertising.
In the same period, Berkshire raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 44% to a $5.4 billion position and initiated a new investment in home-builder D.R. Horton, while also expanding its holdings in Lennar and Macy's. Conversely, the firm cut its positions in Capital One and Nucor by roughly half and reduced stakes in Bank of America and Kroger, ending a small position in Constellation Brands.
Berkshire's second-quarter filing showed a net purchase of $20 billion in equities, the biggest quarterly outlay since 2022, and total stock purchases of $23.5 billion against $3.7 billion in sales. The company also repurchased $4.5 billion of its own shares, the highest quarterly amount since 2021, which lowered its cash balance from a record $380 billion to $365 billion as of June 30.