Willing and Abel: Berkshire's New CEO Makes Huge Portfolio Changes in Q1

Key Points

• Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO isn't making a quiet entrance when it comes to portfolio moves.
• Berkshire's Q1 13F filing revealed many large shifts in its portfolio, with a new leader at the helm.
• Alphabet and New York Times were winners, while Amazon and two payment giants lost their seats at the table.

It only takes one look at Berkshire Hathaway’s NYSE: BRK.B latest 13F filing to know that someone new is in charge. Warren Buffett retired as CEO at the end of 2025, and Greg Abel succeeded him. Saying that Abel turned over Berkshire’s portfolio in Q1 2026 may be an understatement.

In reality, “consolidated” may be a better fit. In Q1, Berkshire completely sold out of over 15 positions and added just a few new ones. Overall, the number of total holdings fell from 42 to 29, creating a significantly more focused portfolio. These are the biggest moves from Berkshire Hathaway's Q1 2026 13F filing.

Behemoths Go to Zero: Berkshire Exits Several Mega-Caps

Notably, the world’s two largest players in the payments industry lost their spot in Berkshire’s portfolio. Visa NYSE: V and Mastercard NYSE: MA, each of which Berkshire previously had +$2 billion positions in, saw their shares held fall to zero. This comes at a time when fears around how agentic AI commerce could affect traditional payment platforms have hurt both stocks.

Still, it is difficult to say that Berkshire decided to sell Visa and Mastercard based on this, given Berkshire’s very low exposure to the AI investment theme. Further pushing back on this idea is the fact that the position in American Express NYSE: AXP remains unchanged.

UnitedHealth Group NYSE: UNH, the world’s largest health insurance company, also went to zero. This is somewhat odd, as Berkshire made headlines by investing in the company just three quarters ago. It is completely possible that Berkshire exited this position at a loss, with UNH shares down 11% from the end of Q2 2025 to the end of Q1 2026. Given the quick sale, it is interesting to consider whether Abel disagreed with the initial investment.

The other most notable sale was clear: Amazon.com NASDAQ: AMZN. This seems to be an extension of what happened in the previous quarter, as Berkshire likely sees another Magnificent Seven firm as better positioned in the AI race. In Q4 2025, Berkshire drastically decreased its Amazon position by 77%, while holding its large position in Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL. This quarter, Berkshire’s Amazon position went away, and Alphabet got much, much bigger.

Other notable exits included Domino’s Pizza NASDAQ: DPZ, Pool NASDAQ: POOL, and Charter Communications NASDAQ: CHTR. Additionally, Berkshire dropped its stake in Mexican beer maker Constellation Brands NYSE: STZ by 95%.

Berkshire Doubles Down on Alphabet, New York Times

The shift in Berkshire's Alphabet position is the biggest story from a buying standpoint. Notably, Berkshire increased its position in Alphabet’s Class A shares (ticker symbol GOOGL) by 204%. Along with appreciation, this moved the value of the position up from around $5.6 billion at the end of Q4 to $15.6 billion at the end of Q1. Berkshire also didn’t stop there, buying $1.03 billion worth of Alphabet’s Class C shares (ticker symbol GOOG).

Over the recent past, it seems to have clearly come to the belief that Alphabet is the most well-positioned public AI hyperscaler. In the past six months, Alphabet has been beating the brakes off of the rest of the other top hyperscalers when it comes to returns.

The stock is up over 40%, with Amazon’s less than 15% return a distant second. Overall, Berkshire’s position in Alphabet was approximately $16.6 billion at the end of Q1, its seventh-largest holding.

However, Alphabet wasn’t the only huge buy. Berkshire also massively upped its stake in the New York Times NYSE: NYT. Its shares held increased by 199%, and the value of the position rose from $351 million to $1.27 billion. It’s uncertain if a Q1 event significantly increased Berkshire’s conviction in NYT, or if it just needed to redeploy capital from sold positions. Either way, Berkshire got rewarded for this move after NYT’s latest earnings report. The company posted results that were genuinely strong, leading shares to soar over 8% in response.

Delta and Macy’s Enter the Fold

In terms of new holdings, Berkshire initiated positions in Delta Air Lines NYSE: DAL and Macy's NYSE: M. Its DAL position is moderately large, worth $2.65 billion. Meanwhile, Macy’s is its third smallest holding at $55 million.

Notably, Delta shares fell as much as 16% in Q1. This came weeks after the beginning of the conflict in Iran. Jet fuel prices more than doubled, putting significant pressure on Delta shares. It is likely that Berkshire saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of that shock.

Meanwhile, Macy’s fell as much as 23% in Q1. Compared to its all-time high market cap near $24.5 billion in 2015, the retailer has lost around 80% of its value.

However, the company’s last earnings report was solid, beating on sales, adjusted earnings per share, and issuing better-than-expected 2026 sales guidance.

Abel’s Tenure Kicks off With Fireworks

Overall, Q1 2026 was Berkshire’s most notable 13F filing in quite some time, and Greg Abel made his presence felt. It will be interesting to see if Q1 marks the reset of Berkshire’s portfolio, and future changes will go back to being relatively minimal. On the other hand, it could be that Abel is just getting started, and other large changes will follow.