Warren Buffett's Stock Portfolio 2026: All Berkshire Hathaway Holdings, Recent Buys, Sells & the $348B Cash Pile Explained

Top Holdings: Q4 2026 Berkshire Hathaway 13F Portfolio Table

The table below reflects Berkshire Hathaway's publicly disclosed equity portfolio as of December 31, 2025 (Q4 2025 13F filing). Note that 13F filings only disclose long U.S. equity positions held by domestic managers — they do not include Berkshire's wholly-owned operating companies (GEICO, BNSF Railway, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, etc.), international holdings, treasury bills, or cash equivalents. To track current filings directly, see SEC EDGAR — Berkshire CIK 0001067983.

Based on Q4 2025 13F filing. Portfolio % reflects share of total disclosed equity portfolio market value. Activity reflects Q4 2025 changes where disclosed. 13F covers disclosed long equity positions only — excludes wholly-owned subsidiaries, bonds, cash, T-bills, and foreign positions. OXY warrants and privately negotiated instruments excluded. Percentages are approximate and subject to change each quarter. Total portfolio value ~$274.2B across 42 disclosed positions. Source: SEC 13F filing, Berkshire Hathaway annual letters.

What Buffett Has Been Buying & Selling (2024–2025)

The most meaningful activity in Berkshire's portfolio over 2024–2025 has been a pattern of large-scale sales of high-profile positions combined with targeted additions to select new and existing holdings — and the accumulation of an unprecedented cash reserve. Here is the headline summary:

The broad pattern is clear: Buffett has been rotating away from the largest concentrations at elevated valuations (AAPL, BAC) and into businesses with captive, recurring revenue streams (SIRI, VRSN, LAMR, NYT) that fit his "toll-road" or "toll-bridge" business quality framework. For more context on identifying quality dividend-paying businesses, see our top dividend stocks guide.

Why Buffett Sold Half His Apple Position — The Full Explanation

The Apple sale is by far the most discussed event in recent Berkshire history — and most competitor pages simply report the share count reduction without explaining the reasoning. Here is the most coherent multi-factor explanation:

1. Valuation Discipline — Apple's Multiple Expanded Dramatically

Berkshire built its Apple position in 2016–2018 when AAPL traded at roughly 12–16× earnings — a consumer staples-like valuation for what Buffett considered the world's best consumer brand. By the time he began selling in 2024, Apple traded at approximately 28–32× forward earnings — a multiple more consistent with high-growth tech than the stable compounder thesis that justified the original purchase. Buffett has publicly acknowledged that "when something is priced to perfection, you reduce."

2. Tax Rate Pre-emption

Buffett explicitly stated in the 2024 annual shareholder letter that he sold Apple partly because he expected federal capital gains tax rates to increase from their current level in coming years. By crystallizing gains at the current 21% corporate tax rate, Berkshire pre-empted a potentially higher future rate — a classic tax-optimization decision, not a business quality judgment. He reiterated that Apple "remains our largest stock holding" and that he expects it to remain so "unless something very extraordinary happens."

3. Portfolio Concentration Management

At peak, Apple represented approximately 50% of Berkshire's entire disclosed equity portfolio — an extreme concentration even by Buffett's standards, where the next largest positions were 8–10% each. The reduction brought Apple to a still-substantial 22.6% while meaningfully reducing single-stock event risk across the portfolio.

Critically, Buffett has not sold Apple because of any change in his view of Apple's business quality. He explicitly calls Apple management "extraordinarily talented" and describes the iPhone as arguably the best consumer product ever created. The sale was about price paid versus value received at current multiples — a distinction that many retail investors miss when reading the headline "Buffett sold Apple." For context on evaluating dividend-paying mega-caps, read our Dividend Aristocrats guide.

The $348 Billion Cash Pile: What It Signals

Berkshire ended Q1 2025 with a record $348 billion in cash and U.S. Treasury bills — up from $334 billion at year-end 2024. This figure — earned primarily from the Apple and BAC sales — represents roughly 30–35% of Berkshire's total market capitalization and is more cash than most sovereign wealth funds manage in their entirety. It is the largest cash reserve Berkshire has ever held, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of assets.

Why Is Berkshire Holding So Much Cash?

Buffett has explained the cash accumulation across multiple contexts. His stated framework: Berkshire will only deploy capital when it finds a business or investment at a price that makes sound long-term economic sense. At current equity market valuations — where the S&P 500 has traded at historically elevated price-to-earnings and price-to-book multiples — Buffett finds it genuinely difficult to deploy $348 billion at returns above what short-term U.S. T-bills currently yield (~5.0%–5.3%). He has noted that at Berkshire's scale, "elephant-sized" acquisitions are required — and he will "never risk permanent loss of capital" for incremental return.

What the Cash Pile Does NOT Mean

The 2008–2009 financial crisis is the historical precedent: Berkshire deployed billions in crisis-period deals (Goldman Sachs preferred, GE preferred, BAC preferred) at terms unavailable to other investors — precisely because it maintained extraordinary liquidity before others recognized the crisis. The $348 billion cash pile is Buffett's preparation for the next such moment — the timing of which he explicitly says he does not know. For additional context on value investing frameworks, see our high-yield dividend analysis.

Warren Buffett's 6 Core Investment Principles

Understanding Buffett's portfolio requires understanding the framework he has applied consistently for 60+ years. These principles are derived directly from Berkshire's annual shareholder letters, the 2023 Charlie Munger memorial tribute, and Buffett's documented public statements.

These six principles form a coherent, internally consistent framework. They explain not only what Buffett buys, but why he refuses to buy most of what investment markets offer at any given moment. For individual investors learning to apply similar discipline, our dividend investing fundamentals guide covers the foundational concepts underlying the income-generating businesses Buffett has favored throughout his career.

BRK/A vs. BRK/B: Which Share Class Is Right for You?

Berkshire Hathaway trades under two ticker symbols, which represent the same underlying company but with substantially different economics:

The key takeaway: For virtually all individual investors, BRK/B is the appropriate vehicle to gain Berkshire exposure. The economics are nearly identical (1/1,500 of the A's economic interest) and the B-shares are liquid, accessible, and available as fractional shares on most brokerage platforms. The A-shares command a structural voting premium and are intentionally left unconvertible from B → A to preserve Buffett's long-term governance control. Note that Berkshire pays no dividend — Buffett's stated preference is to retain Berkshire's earnings and reinvest at high rates of return, making it unsuitable for investors who rely on dividend income. For income-focused alternatives, see our dividend ETF guide.

Greg Abel & the Berkshire Succession

At the end of 2025, Warren Buffett officially retired as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway — the most anticipated CEO transition in corporate history — while retaining his position as executive chairman. Greg Abel, previously Vice Chairman overseeing Berkshire's non-insurance operations, has assumed the CEO role. Abel is widely regarded within Berkshire's culture as embodying the same capital allocation discipline and decentralized management philosophy that Buffett established. He has been publicly identified as Buffett's successor since 2021.

What changes under Abel: Investment decision-making for large capital deployments may now involve the input of investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler more explicitly, though Buffett retains influence as chairman. Berkshire's core culture — extreme decentralization, zero corporate bureaucracy, permanent capital base, insurance float leverage — is a structural design that Abel inherits rather than creates. The succession was planned and orderly, which is itself a Buffett-characteristic outcome: he spent 15+ years building the leadership infrastructure rather than leaving it to chance.

How to Use Buffett's Portfolio as a Starting Point for Research

1. Read the 13F Filing — But Know Its Limitations

Berkshire's 13F is filed 45 days after each quarter ends: February 14 (Q4), May 15 (Q1), August 14 (Q2), and November 14 (Q3). This 45-day lag means the portfolio you see is already a historical document — Berkshire may have added or sold significantly in the intervening weeks. The filing also excludes wholly-owned subsidiaries, bonds, T-bills, foreign positions, and put/call options not meeting disclosure thresholds. Use it as a research starting point, not a current portfolio mirror.

2. Focus on Why — Not Just What

The most common mistake retail investors make with "Buffett's portfolio" is copying positions without understanding the thesis behind them. Berkshire's AXP position has been held for 30+ years through multiple cycles because of conviction in American Express's premium customer loyalty model — not because AXP happened to be in Buffett's 13F. Before following any holding, research the underlying business quality thesis using Buffett's framework: moat, pricing power, management quality, earnings durability, and fair valuation.

3. Understand Berkshire's Scale Constraints Don't Apply to You

Berkshire's $348 billion cash pile earns ~5% in T-bills = ~$17 billion/year in risk-free income. Buffett's scale means he cannot meaningfully benefit from small-cap or mid-cap opportunities — a company must be worth $50–$100+ billion for Berkshire's capital to matter. Individual investors with smaller capital bases have a significant advantage: you can invest in $2 billion, $5 billion, or $10 billion companies with compelling economics that are simply too small for Buffett to consider. His public portfolio concentration in mega-caps is a constraint of scale, not a philosophical preference.

4. Read the Annual Shareholder Letters — Directly

Berkshire's annual shareholder letters (available free at berkshirehathaway.com) are arguably the most valuable free financial education available. They explain every major decision in plain language, acknowledge mistakes openly, and provide a consistent framework for long-term business evaluation that is directly applicable to any investor's portfolio. They are more valuable than any third-party analysis of Buffett's holdings. For additional foundational education, our dividend investing guide complements Buffett's income-company focus.

5. Evaluate the Whole Business — Not the Stock Price

Buffett's most repeated insight: think of a stock as a fractional ownership interest in a real, operating business — not a ticker symbol moving on a screen. Evaluate Berkshire's portfolio companies by asking: "If the stock market closed for 10 years, would I be comfortable owning this business?" If the answer is yes — because the business generates real cash flows, has pricing power, and doesn't depend on a rising market to return capital — you are thinking like Buffett. If the answer depends on finding a buyer at a higher price, you are speculating.

Risks of "Copying" Buffett's Portfolio

• 13F data is 45 days stale: By the time a 13F is public, Berkshire may have substantially changed the disclosed positions. During 2024, Berkshire was actively selling Apple shares in real time — investors who "followed" the published 13F into AAPL in Q2 or Q3 2024 owned a position Berkshire was simultaneously selling. The filing is historical, not current.
• Berkshire's scale changes the return math: When Berkshire holds $280B in equities across 42 positions, a 1% gain = $2.8B. Individual investors with $50,000–$500,000 portfolios have entirely different position sizing requirements. Blindly replicating a Berkshire portfolio ignores your own risk tolerance, time horizon, liquidity needs, and tax situation.
• You lack Buffett's negotiated terms: Many of Berkshire's best-ever investments were not available to public investors: Goldman Sachs 10% preferred in 2008, GE preferred, BAC preferred at 6% with warrants, Pilchuck preferred, etc. The 13F shows only the public equity posture — not the leverage, terms, or timing that made many deals extraordinary.
• Succession risk is real: Berkshire's 60-year track record is inseparable from Buffett's capital allocation genius. With Greg Abel now in the CEO role, Berkshire enters uncharted territory. Abel is widely respected, but no successor to a 60-year compounding machine has a comparable track record. The premium multiple the market assigns to Berkshire (vs. a comparable closed-end fund) may eventually compress.
• Key man risk persists: Even as chairman, Buffett's reputation, relationships, and judgment have generated deal flow and terms unavailable to any other entity. The $348B cash pile's deployment will be a defining test of the post-Buffett leadership era.
• Berkshire pays no dividend: For income-oriented investors, Berkshire is structurally unsuitable — it retains 100% of earnings for reinvestment. If income is a priority, see our highest dividend yield stocks guide for alternatives aligned with your objectives.

Frequently Asked Questions