When you think about Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA 0.04%) (BRKB 0.07%), it’s nearly impossible not to recall the long stewardship of Warren Buffett, the legendary investor who led the conglomerate for six decades. Buffett was famed for his buy-and-hold value investing style, taking large positions in blue chip companies like Bank of America, Coca-Cola, and American Express.
Now that Buffett is in his well-earned retirement, Berkshire has new leadership under Greg Abel. And the CEO has wasted no time shaking things up, closing 16 positions in Berkshire’s portfolio and trimming the number of companies Berkshire invests in to 29. He also loaded up on Alphabet (GOOG +1.24%) (GOOGL +1.25%), buying 36.4 million shares in the first quarter, and then signing off on a private placement to buy another $10 billion worth of shares.
Nearly 30% of Berkshire’s legendary value-oriented portfolio is now tied up in two artificial intelligence stocks: Alphabet and Apple (AAPL 0.48%). And while a 30% allocation to two AI stocks may seem aggressive — especially for a company like Berkshire Hathaway — its portfolio is actually more balanced than it has been in years.
Here’s why.
Image source: Getty Images.
Berkshire’s history with AI stocks
It wasn’t long ago that Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio was heavily overweighted with Apple. In mid-2023, Berkshire held 914,560,382 shares of Apple stock, accounting for about half of the company’s total investment portfolio. But Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway started trimming the company’s stake. “I’m very happy to have it be our largest holding,” Buffett said in a 2026 interview with CNBC. “I was not happy to have it be as large as almost everything else combined.”
Today, Berkshire still holds a sizable position in Apple, accounting for 20.6% of its $348.2 billion investment portfolio. Apple is still the largest holding, although it’s not as outsize as it used to be. And Alphabet has cracked the top five, with its Class A shares accounting for 7% of Berkshire’s portfolio and Class C shares totaling 1.8%.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Top 5 Holdings | Number of Shares | Percentage of Berkshire Portfolio |
|---|---|---|
Apple | 227,917,808 | 20.6% |
American Express | 151,610,000 | 15.3% |
Coca-Cola | 400,000,000 | 9.6% |
Alphabet | 66,406,793 (combined Class A and Class C shares) | 8.8% |
Bank of America | 513,624,165 | 8.8% |
Data source: CNBC.
Diversification matters
It’s important to understand that Berkshire isn’t giving up on AI stocks — it’s redeploying capital from Apple and positioning its closed positions in Alphabet. Rather than making just one sizable bet on a top AI stock, Abel has Berkshire significantly invested in two AI stocks. And they come with very different revenue streams.
Apple makes most of its money from hardware, including its iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, and wearables. And its Services segment, which includes the Apple App Store, is a serious money-maker, generating about $31 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter and gross margins of 76%.
Today’s Change
(1.24%) $4.33
Current Price
$355.00
Key Data Points
Market Cap
Day’s Range
$348.85 – $355.22
52wk Range
$181.50 – $404.47
Volume
105.5K
Avg Vol
21.5M
Gross Margin
60.43%
Dividend Yield
0.24%
Today’s Change
(-0.48%) $-1.53
Current Price
$315.78
Key Data Points
Market Cap
Day’s Range
$312.00 – $316.18
52wk Range
$201.50 – $323.45
Volume
339.2K
Avg Vol
54.5M
Gross Margin
47.86%
Dividend Yield
0.33%
Meanwhile, Alphabet has a powerful internet-based advertising engine that generated $77.25 billion in revenue in the first quarter, and a fast-growing cloud computing division that contributed $20 billion in revenue and jumped 63% year over year.
A 30% weighting in two top AI stocks is much better than a 50% weighting in one. Berkshire’s portfolio remains heavily invested in AI, but is less dependent on the success of a single company.
American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Patrick Sanders has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, American Express, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
