It only takes one look at Berkshire Hathaway's NYSE: BRK.B recent filing of 13F to know that there is a new holder. Warren Buffett retired as CEO at the end of 2025, and Greg Abel succeeded him. That Abel transformed Berkshire's portfolio in Q1 2026 may be an understatement.
In fact, “integrated” might be a better fit. In Q1, Berkshire completely sold more than 15 positions and added just a few new ones. Overall, the total number of holdings decreased from 42 to 29, creating a more concentrated portfolio. This is the biggest move from Berkshire Hathaway's Q1 2026 13F filing.
Behemoth Goes to Zero: Berkshire Exits Several Mega-Caps
Notably, two of the world's largest players in the payments industry lost their place in Berkshire's portfolio. Visa NYSE:V and MasterCard NYSE: MAeach of which Berkshire previously had +$2 billion in positions, saw their holdings drop to zero. This comes at a time when fears about how agency AI trading could affect traditional payment platforms have hurt both stocks.
However, it is difficult to say whether Berkshire decided to sell Visa and Mastercard based on this, due to Berkshire's low exposure to the AI investment theme. The reverse of this idea is the fact that the position in American Express NYSE: AXP remains unchanged.
UnitedHealth Group NYSE: UNHthe largest health insurance company in the world, also reached zero. This is ironic, as Berkshire made headlines for investing in the company three weeks ago. It is entirely possible that Berkshire exits this position at a loss, with UNH shares down 11% from the end of Q2 2025 to the end of Q1 2026. Given the rapid sales, it is interesting to consider that Abel does not agree with the initial investment.
One of the most notable sales was clear: Amazon.com NASDAQ: AMZN. This appears to be an extension of what happened last quarter, as Berkshire may be seeing another Magnificent Seven company better placed in the AI race. In Q4 2025, Berkshire significantly reduced its position in Amazon by 77%, while maintaining its largest position in Alphabet. NASDAQ: GOOGL. This quarter, Amazon's Berkshire location went away, and Alphabet got a much, much bigger deal.
Other notable exits include Domino's Pizza NASDAQ: DPZA lake NASDAQ: POOLand Charter Communications NASDAQ: CHTR. Additionally, Berkshire reduced its stake in Mexican beer maker Constellation Brands NYSE: STZ by 95%.
Berkshire Doubles Down on Alphabet, New York Times
The change in Alphabet Berkshire's location is a big deal from a shopping perspective. Notably, Berkshire increased its position in Alphabet's Class A shares (ticker symbol GOOGL) by 204%. Along with appreciation, this increased the value of the position from $5.6 billion at the end of Q4 to $15.6 billion at the end of Q1. Berkshire didn't stop there either, buying Alphabet's Class C shares (ticker symbol GOOG) worth $1.03 billion).
The Alphabet Today
- 52 week interval
- $162.00
▼
$403.70
- Dividend Yield
- 0.21%
- The P/E ratio
- 30.52
- Target Value
- $410.84
In the past, it seems to have come to the belief that Alphabet is the best-placed AI hyperscaler for the community. For the past six months, Alphabet has been hitting the brakes on some of the top hyperscalers when it comes to returns.
The stock is up 40%, with Amazon down 15% a distant second. In total, Berkshire's position in Alphabet was about $16.6 billion at the end of Q1, its seventh largest position.
However, Alphabet was not the only best seller. Berkshire also significantly raised its stake in the New York Times NYSE: The NYT. Its shares held increased by 199%, and the value of the position increased from $351 million to $1.27 billion. It is uncertain whether the Q1 event significantly increased Berkshire's condemnation of the NYT, or if it simply necessitated the redeployment of funds from sold positions. In any case, Berkshire was rewarded for this move after the NYT's latest earnings report. The company posted results that were fairly strong, sending shares up more than 8% in response.
Delta and Macy's Enter the Fold
In terms of new holdings, Berkshire started a position in Delta Air Lines NYSE: DAL and Macy's NYSE: M. Its DAL position is relatively large, valued at $2.65 billion. Meanwhile, Macy's is the third smallest with $55 million.
Delta Air Lines Today
Delta Air Lines
- 52 week interval
- $45.28
▼
$76.39
- Dividend Yield
- 1.05%
- The P/E ratio
- 10.42
- Target Value
- $79.76
Notably, Delta shares fell as much as 16% in Q1. This happened a few weeks after the start of the conflict in Iran. Jet fuel prices have more than doubled, putting significant pressure on Delta shares. Berkshire may have seen this as an opportunity to capitalize on that shock.
Meanwhile, Macy's was down 23% in Q1. Compared to an all-time high market value of around $24.5 billion in 2015, the retailer has lost nearly 80% of its value.
However, the company's last financial report was strong, beating sales, adjusted earnings per share, and issuing better-than-expected sales guidance for 2026.
Abel's Reign Begins With Fireworks
Overall, Q1 2026 was Berkshire's most notable 13F filing in a long time, and Greg Abel made his presence felt. It will be interesting to see if Q1 marks a reset for Berkshire's portfolio, and future changes will return to being relatively small. On the other hand, it is possible that Abela is just getting started, and some big changes will follow.
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