Berkshire's Q2 13F Portfolio Shift: Increases Stakes in Alphabet and Delta Air Lines, Reduces Bank of America Holdings for Second Consecutive Quarter

Following Warren Buffett's departure as CEO, Berkshire Hathaway has released its second 13F filing.

According to documents disclosed on August 14 (Eastern Time), the market value of Berkshire's 13F equity portfolio stood at approximately $299.3 billion by the end of the second quarter, a 12.09% increase from the approximately $263.1 billion recorded at the end of the first quarter. Overall, in the second quarter, Berkshire added one new stock, increased positions in seven stocks, reduced positions in six stocks, and completely exited one position.

It is evident that under the formal leadership of Greg Abel, Berkshire continues to increase its exposure to sectors such as Alphabet, housing, and aviation, while simultaneously reducing holdings in traditional financials and certain consumer stocks.

If the two classes of Alphabet shares are combined, Berkshire's current top ten heavyweight stocks are Apple, American Express, Alphabet, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, Chubb Limited, Moody's, and Kraft Heinz.

Apple remains Berkshire's largest holding, with a market value of approximately $65.95 billion, accounting for about 22% of the 13F equity portfolio's market value. American Express ranks second with a market value of approximately $51.282 billion, representing 17.14%. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, ranks third when its shares are combined. Coca-Cola and Bank of America rank fourth and fifth, respectively.

Specifically, in the second quarter of this year, Berkshire continued to significantly increase its stake in Alphabet. Berkshire increased its holdings of Alphabet by approximately 24.54 million shares, a 45.24% increase, bringing the total number of shares held to approximately 78.79 million by the end of the period, with a market value of approximately $28.158 billion. It also increased its holdings of Alphabet - C by approximately 23.6 million shares, a substantial 658.35% increase, resulting in a holding of approximately 27.19 million shares by the end of the period, with a market value of approximately $9.606 billion.

This brought the combined market value of Alphabet and Alphabet - C to approximately $37.764 billion by the end of the second quarter, accounting for about 12.62% of the 13F equity portfolio's market value. This surpassed Coca-Cola, making Alphabet the third-largest holding for Berkshire, trailing only Apple and American Express.

Furthermore, among the top ten heavyweight stocks, the only one reduced was Bank of America. During the quarter, Berkshire reduced its holdings by approximately 30.2 million shares. Calculated at the end-of-period price, Berkshire reduced its Bank of America holdings by approximately 30.23 million shares, a decrease of 5.89%, corresponding to a reduction in market value of approximately $1.72 billion. This made Bank of America the largest reduction target for Berkshire during the quarter. By the end of the period, Berkshire still held 483 million shares of Bank of America, with a market value of approximately $27.544 billion, accounting for 9.2% of the 13F equity portfolio's market value, ranking as the fifth-largest holding. While Bank of America remains an important investment for Berkshire, its holdings have been reduced for two consecutive quarters.

Apart from this, there were no changes to Berkshire's other top ten heavyweight stock holdings in the second quarter.

Regarding other increases in positions, in the second quarter of this year, Berkshire increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by approximately 17.51 million shares, an increase of about 44%, bringing the total number of shares held to 57.32 million by the end of the period, with a market value of approximately $5.369 billion. It also increased its holdings of Lennar Corporation Class A shares by approximately 3.01 million shares, an increase of nearly 30%, while also adding approximately 60,000 shares of Lennar Corporation Class B stock. Holdings in Macy's were increased by approximately 4.31 million shares, a 141.82% increase. There was also a slight increase in holdings of The New York Times Company by approximately 550,000 shares.

The only new position established by Berkshire in the second quarter was in D.R. Horton, with a small initial stake of 3,564 shares, valued at approximately $580,000.

In terms of reductions, besides Bank of America, Berkshire also reduced its holdings in Ally Financial, Capital One Financial, kidney dialysis service provider DaVita, grocery retailer Kroger, and steel manufacturer Nucor. Constellation Brands, the alcoholic beverage producer, which saw a significant reduction in the first quarter, was completely exited by Berkshire in the second quarter.

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