Berkshire Hathaway Bets Big on Google, Delta and Macy's as New CEO Greg Abel Rewrites the Investment Playbook Warren Buffett Built Over Decades

Among all the moves Berkshire made in the first quarter of 2026, none carries more symbolic weight than the dramatic expansion of its Alphabet stake. By the end of March, Berkshire held nearly 58 million shares of Alphabet, valued at close to 17 billion dollars. Just three months earlier, at the end of December 2025, the company owned only 17.8 million Alphabet shares worth approximately 5.6 billion dollars.

That is a more than threefold increase in a single quarter, representing one of the fastest and most significant portfolio reallocations Berkshire has made in recent memory.

The decision stands in sharp contrast to the investment philosophy Warren Buffett spent a lifetime articulating. Buffett was famously reluctant to invest in technology companies, consistently stating that he did not understand the sector well enough to predict which businesses would maintain a durable competitive advantage over the long term. He believed that technology moved too fast, that moats eroded too quickly, and that the future was simply too difficult to read with confidence.

There was, of course, the notable exception of Apple. In what became one of the most profitable investments in Berkshire's history, Buffett eventually committed massively to Apple Inc. after recognizing that consumers had developed an almost unshakeable loyalty to the company's iPhone ecosystem. That investment ultimately rewarded Berkshire shareholders with extraordinary returns and stands as Buffett's most celebrated late career pivot.

Greg Abel, it appears, is willing to go further and move faster in this direction. His expansion of the Alphabet position suggests a conviction that Google's parent, with its dominance in search advertising, cloud computing, artificial intelligence development, and a sprawling portfolio of digital services, represents the kind of enduring business franchise that Berkshire has always sought. Alphabet's stock price barely moved following Berkshire's disclosure, indicating that markets had already priced in the company's fundamental strength rather than reacting to surprise.

The second major move of the quarter was Berkshire's purchase of approximately 40 million shares of Delta Air Lines, bringing the total value of the position to more than 2.6 billion dollars. This investment is particularly striking given Berkshire's complicated and well documented history with the airline industry.

Warren Buffett's relationship with airline stocks was one of the most publicly discussed and sometimes painful chapters of his investment career. He invested heavily in airline companies on more than one occasion, only to eventually exit those positions at a loss or with deep frustration. His most memorable commentary on the sector came during a 2008 shareholder letter in which he suggested, with characteristic wit, that if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk when the Wright brothers first took flight, they would have done future investors a tremendous favor by shooting Orville Wright out of the sky. The implication was clear: the airline industry had structurally struggled to generate consistent, durable profits ever since the dawn of commercial aviation.

Then came the COVID 19 pandemic. In 2020, Berkshire sold its entire airline portfolio at significant losses as the industry faced an existential shutdown of global travel demand. It seemed, at the time, like a definitive conclusion to Berkshire's involvement with the sector.

But Abel's large and deliberate purchase of Delta shares suggests a different read on the current environment. Delta has consistently distinguished itself from its peers through premium cabin revenue growth, a loyal frequent flyer program, a strong balance sheet relative to the sector, and what analysts have described as superior operational execution. Abel appears to be making the case that Delta, in particular, represents a structurally different and more defensible business than the broader airline industry that Buffett once condemned. Whether that thesis proves correct over the long term will be one of the defining early tests of Abel's tenure as an investor.

Delta's stock price rose following Berkshire's disclosure, a reaction that underscored how closely the market still watches every move the company makes, even as it adjusts to a new era of leadership.

The third new investment disclosed in the quarterly filing was a modest stake in Macy's, the storied American department store chain. At the end of March, Berkshire's position in Macy's was valued at nearly 55 million dollars, making it a relatively small holding compared to the Alphabet and Delta positions but symbolically significant nonetheless.

Macy's has been navigating one of the most difficult periods in the history of American brick and mortar retail. The rise of e-commerce, shifting consumer spending habits, the lingering effects of pandemic era disruptions, and growing competition from fast fashion and discount retailers have all put sustained pressure on traditional department store operators. Macy's has responded with a restructuring effort that includes store closures, a renewed focus on its most productive locations, and investment in its luxury and digital channels.

Whether Berkshire views this as a turnaround story, a deep value opportunity, or a calculated smaller position to monitor the company more closely before committing further capital remains unclear. Berkshire as a matter of policy does not comment publicly on its individual investment decisions from quarter to quarter, preferring instead to let its filings speak for themselves. Macy's stock jumped following the disclosure, as investors interpreted Berkshire's involvement as an implicit endorsement of the company's direction under its current management.

While the new investments attracted much of the attention, Berkshire also disclosed meaningful exits from several prominent holdings during the first quarter of 2026. The company sold out of or reduced positions in Visa, Mastercard, Domino's Pizza, Amazon, and UnitedHealth Group.

These disposals are likely connected to the departure late last year of Todd Combs, one of the two investment managers Warren Buffett had brought on to help run portions of the equity portfolio. Combs and Ted Weschler had been Buffett's chosen successors for the investment management function, each running a substantial portion of Berkshire's holdings. With Combs now gone, a significant reorganization of the portfolio was perhaps inevitable, reflecting Abel's own priorities and preferences as well as the consolidation of investment authority at the top of the organization.

The sold positions were by no means small. Visa and Mastercard are among the most profitable and widely respected financial businesses in the world. Amazon is a dominant force across retail, cloud computing, and logistics. UnitedHealth Group has long been considered one of the most capable operators in the managed care industry. The decision to exit these names points to a deliberate and confident reshaping of Berkshire's investment identity under new leadership.

Greg Abel formally took over as Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Hathaway from Warren Buffett at the start of 2026. It is one of the most consequential leadership transitions in modern corporate history. Buffett, now in his mid nineties, remains present in an advisory and board capacity, but has stepped back from the day to day management of the company he built into a global institution over more than five decades.

Abel's first shareholder meeting as CEO, held earlier in May 2026, drew enormous attention as investors, analysts, and admirers of Buffett gathered in Omaha to assess the new leader. In a striking visual moment, Buffett himself sat on the floor with the rest of the board of directors rather than at the main table, symbolically and physically stepping aside to allow Abel to take center stage.

Abel spent the bulk of his career at Berkshire operating its massive portfolio of energy and utility businesses. He is widely respected as an exceptional operator but has a shorter track record as a stock picker and capital allocator in the public equity markets. Many longtime Berkshire investors who built their portfolios by mirroring Buffett's moves are now watching carefully to see whether Abel develops the same kind of conviction and long term accuracy that made Buffett's investment decisions so influential and so widely followed for so many decades.

Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio of operating businesses remains as formidable as ever. The company owns Geico, one of the largest auto insurers in the United States. It owns BNSF Railway, a critical piece of American freight infrastructure. It owns Precision Castparts, one of the world's foremost aerospace and industrial manufacturers. And it owns a diverse collection of retail and consumer brands including See's Candy, Dairy Queen, and Helzberg Diamonds, among many others. The total stock portfolio stands at approximately 280 billion dollars.

The decisions Greg Abel makes in these early quarters will form the foundation of his legacy. The moves disclosed this week suggest a leader who is willing to act boldly, think independently, and chart a course that is informed by but not bound to the playbook of his predecessor. Whether the world's investing community follows him with the same devotion it showed Warren Buffett is a question only time and results will answer.