Warren Buffett is no longer the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, but he is by no means fading into obscurity. He is still the company’s chairman and continues to have an active role, including in an advisory capacity. Perhaps more importantly for our purposes, Buffett’s investing philosophy will continue to live on long after he is gone. And some of the stock picks he and his team have made in his long tenure as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway are at least worth considering for investors with the same long-term mindset as the Oracle of Omaha.
In that spirit, let’s consider two Buffett stocks that look especially attractive: Apple (AAPL +0.01%) and Alphabet (GOOG +0.48%) (GOOGL +0.56%). Here’s why these two stocks look like no-brainer buys.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Apple
It’s no secret that Apple is one of Buffett’s favorite stocks. It has been Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holding for years, and the Oracle of Omaha once said of Apple that: “It’s probably the best business I know in the world.” Even with Buffett no longer at the head, Berkshire Hathaway will likely hold Apple’s shares for many more years. The company’s new CEO, Greg Abel, said in his first letter to shareholders that he expects Apple (and other top holdings) to “compound over decades.”
But what exactly makes Apple such an excellent stock to buy? Here are two factors that are essential to the company’s success. First, Apple has an incredibly strong brand name that has inspired loyalty and trust among its customers. That has allowed Apple to build a deep ecosystem of users, many of whom upgrade their devices fairly regularly.
Today’s Change
(0.01%) $0.03
Current Price
$260.86
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$3.8T
Day’s Range
$259.55 – $262.11
52wk Range
$169.21 – $288.62
Volume
547
Avg Vol
48M
Gross Margin
47.33%
Dividend Yield
0.40%
Apple’s current upgrade cycle, led by the iPhone 17, is proving particularly strong. In its latest period, the first quarter of its fiscal year 2026, ending on Dec. 27, Apple’s revenue increased by about 16% year over year to $143.8 billion. It had been a while since Apple had generated year-over-year revenue growth in the double-digit percentages.
AAPL Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts
Second, Apple’s ecosystem fuels its services segment. The company reached a new all-time high for paid accounts in its Q1 2026, and there are plenty of opportunities within this unit that the company can exploit in the long run, especially as its installed base of active devices keeps climbing. Some might worry about the impact of tariffs on Apple’s financial results, but this issue shouldn’t plague the company in the long term.
Apple worked hard to diversify its manufacturing footprint, and the company’s current margins can absorb even 25% tariffs on U.S. imports while remaining profitable. Further, its increased reliance on its higher-margin services unit will help boost profits in the long run and mitigate the impact of tariffs. Lastly, Apple is a solid dividend stock, having increased its payouts by 82.5% over the past decade. The company is a terrific pick for both growth and income-seeking investors.
2. Alphabet
Alphabet only made it into Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio in the third quarter of last year. Better late than never: Although the stock is worth $3.7 trillion and has already produced life-changing returns, the tech giant has massive growth opportunities. Consider Alphabet’s core advertising business, powered primarily by its search engine. This is a business where Alphabet boasts a deep competitive edge thanks to strong network effects and its brand name. The more search volume Google sees, the more data it has to improve search results, which helps further boost volume, and so on.
Alphabet is also a leader in cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). The company’s cloud segment is growing much faster than the rest of the business. In the fourth quarter, Alphabet’s revenue came in at $113.8 billion, up 18% year over year. Google Cloud revenue was $17.7 billion, up 48% year over year. Alphabet also reported a cloud backlog of $240 billion, which increased 55% quarter over quarter.
Today’s Change
(0.48%) $1.49
Current Price
$308.42
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$3.7T
Day’s Range
$305.84 – $311.07
52wk Range
$142.66 – $350.15
Volume
27K
Avg Vol
22M
Gross Margin
59.68%
Dividend Yield
0.27%
Alphabet is doubling down on these opportunities. The company announced massive infrastructure spending. Although the market wasn’t too thrilled with this decision, my view is that since Alphabet’s cloud and AI business are meaningfully improving the business — and given that there is still a massive runway ahead in these industries — the company is positioning itself for long-term success, something investors should appreciate. Alphabet remains well-positioned to deliver above-average returns over the long run.
