Mysteries remain in Berkshire’s portfolio update

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The large decline in the number of shares in Berkshire Hathaway’s stock portfolio revealed in last Friday’s first-quarter 13F SEC filing was perhaps larger than expected, but it wasn’t a complete surprise.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that new CEO Greg Abel plans to sell many or all of the stocks previously managed by Todd Combs, who left for JPMorgan late last year.

It’s hard to explain how the two new names came about; delta airlines and Macy’sentered the portfolio.

Berkshire Who makes buy and sell decisions for individual stocks is rarely disclosed, but the rule of thumb was that Warren Buffett would take on the large positions and one of the two (now one) portfolio managers would take on the smaller positions.

Mr. Abel, who currently has overall responsibility for the company’s investments, will replace Mr. Buffett in its construction.

But Oracle is still coming into the office five days a week as chairman and told CNBC’s Becky Quick in late March that while he continues to call for investments, Abel won’t do anything he thinks is “wrong.”

Abel probably won’t do anything that Buffett objects to either.

Delta’s reintroduction into the portfolio after six years in exile is therefore shrouded in mystery.

Buffett, who suggested in early 2008 that a “visionary capitalist” should have shot down Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, is unlikely to be willing to give airline stocks a third chance after his 1989 investment in US Airways ran into trouble, his return to the sector at a loss in 2016, and his exit in 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

And indeed, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Buffett told the paper that he had no involvement in the Delta Air Lines decision.

But he added that Berkshire “seems unable to sever ties with the airlines” because Mr. Abel also “showed favoritism to the airlines early on.”

Motley Fool contributor Jeffrey Seiler was disappointed that Abel seemed to be repeating Buffett’s mistakes.

But in Barron’s, Andrew Barry believes Delta is “likely” to be acquired by Berkshire’s remaining portfolio manager, Ted Weschler.

The $2.6 billion as of March 31 is “exactly consistent with the approximately $3 billion in empowerment gains this year as Mr. Abel’s responsibilities have shifted from 5% to 6% of the portfolio, based on his comments in his annual letter.”

Barry also noted that Weschler is “value-skewed, and Delta is the industry leader valued at about 10 times earnings.”

Either way, it will at least lead to short-term success.

Delta’s holdings are now valued at $3 billion, up 14.5% from the end of the first quarter.

This includes an 8.4% rise last week to a record high of $76.14.

Berkshire’s new Macy’s position is also a short-term win, but the total value is only a fraction of Delta’s purchase price.

It’s down from $55 million as of March 31 to $63 million now, an increase of 14.2%, including a 12.2% rise this week.

Generally, positions accounting for less than 0.02% of Berkshire’s stock portfolio are considered portfolio manager jobs.

But in a March interview with CNBC, Becky asked him if he was still making new purchases, to which he replied: “I did a little shopping, but I can’t find it – I couldn’t find it before.”

CNBC believes he may have been referring to Macy’s stock, but notes that he may also have been referring to overseas acquisitions or other investments that don’t need to be included in a 13F filing.

Barron’s also believes Buffett’s comments may have referred to Macy’s position.

The company sees the retailer’s “significant real estate holdings” as a plus, recalling that in 2015 Buffett personally bought an 8% stake in Seritage Growth Properties, which managed stores and real estate spun off from Sears.

“If Buffett were to buy Macy’s, it would be noteworthy. It would show that at age 95, he still loves the investment game and can’t resist undervalued stocks, even if the size of his holdings isn’t important to Berkshire.”

Two new filings in Japan show that Berkshire continues to build positions in at least two of the country’s largest trading companies.

the mitsubishi As of April 30, the shareholding rate increased to 11.1% from 9.7% previously. Sumitomo As of May 12, the investment ratio increased from 9.3% to 10.3%.

Mr. Abel has been involved in Berkshire’s investments in Japan in recent years and is almost certainly behind the follow-on acquisition.

Berkshire may buy additional Japanese stocks, but would only need to renew if its holdings increase by more than 1%.

The total value of the six stocks currently disclosed is approximately $46 billion.

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BRK.A stock price: $728,641.00

BRK.B stock price: $486.38

BRK.BP/E (TTM): 14.48

Berkshire Market Capitalization: $1,048,584,611,864

Berkshire Cash as of December 31: $373.3 billion (down 2.2% from September 30)

Excluding railroad cash and outstanding Treasury bills: $369 billion (4.1% increase from September 30)

Berkshire repurchased $234 million of its own stock in the first quarter of 2026.

Berkshire’s top U.S. and Japanese listed stocks by market capitalization, based on the latest closing prices.

As reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s May 15th 13th Floor filing, holdings are as of March 31st, excluding:

A complete list of holdings and current market value is available on CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

If you have any questions or comments about the newsletter, please send them to alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, we do not forward questions or comments to Mr. Buffett himself.)

If you haven’t subscribed to this newsletter yet, you can sign up here.

I also highly recommend Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders. It’s collected here on Berkshire’s website.

— Alex Crippen, Warren Buffett Watch Editor