Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed a new position in Alphabet, making the Google parent company 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 close of the third quarter, marking a surprising move given Buffett’s traditional value investing philosophy and his usual reluctance toward high-growth tech names. While Berkshire has long owned Apple, Buffett has often described it more as a consumer products company than a pure tech play.
The purchase of Alphabet shares was likely made by Berkshire investment managers Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, who have shown greater activity in technology names. One of them also initiated an investment in Amazon back in 2019, and Berkshire still holds $2.2 billion worth of Amazon shares.
Alphabet has been a standout winner in the market this year, with its shares rallying 46%. Strong demand for artificial intelligence has driven solid momentum in Alphabet’s cloud business, further boosting investor confidence.
Buffett previously admitted that he “blew it” by failing to invest early in Google, despite having insight into its advertising potential. In fact, Berkshire’s auto insurance unit, Geico, was an early customer of Google, paying the search engine $10 every time someone clicked on an 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 Holdings
Meanwhile, Berkshire continued paring back its massive Apple stake, trimming the position by another 15% in the quarter to $60.7 billion. Buffett embarked on a notable selling spree of Apple shares in 2024, slashing two-thirds of the shares Berkshire held—a surprising move for the famously long-term-focused investor. The conglomerate also cut its Apple holdings in the second quarter of this year.
Even with these ongoing sales, Apple remains Berkshire’s biggest equity holding.
Berkshire also dialed back its stake in Bank of America by 6%, reducing the bet to just under $30 billion. Additionally, the conglomerate trimmed positions in Verisign and DaVita during the third quarter.
### Berkshire’s Broader Stock Sales
Berkshire Hathaway has been a net seller of stocks for 12 consecutive quarters as valuations have continued to climb during the tech-driven bull market.
At 95 years old, Warren Buffett is set to step down as CEO at the end of the year, with longtime lieutenant Greg Abel poised to take the reins. Investors have been closely watching Berkshire’s positioning for clues about the next era of leadership and how the company’s investment approach may evolve moving forward.
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