Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in homebuilder Lennar to 11.2%, though the pace of its recent purchases has slowed significantly. While Berkshire acquired shares at an average of $58 million per day in late September, this figure dropped to approximately $13.5 million in the first four days of the current week.
Meanwhile, Warren Buffett has reclaimed the No. 10 spot on Forbes’ global billionaire rankings. This comes as the U.S. housing market faces headwinds from rising mortgage rates and elevated home prices.
(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.)
Berkshire Buys More Lennar Shares, But Pace of Purchases Slows
Berkshire Hathaway has continued to increase its investment in Lennar, raising its stake in the homebuilder to 11.2%. However, the rate at which the company is acquiring these shares appears to be decelerating.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late Wednesday, Berkshire disclosed that it purchased a total of $53.6 million of Lennar's Class A shares and an additional $329,000 of its B shares on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
This brings Berkshire's total stake in Lennar to 26.6 million shares, valued at approximately $2.1 billion based on Friday's closing prices.
At the end of the second quarter, Berkshire held a 5.4% stake, comprising 13.4 million shares valued at $1.2 billion. This represented a nearly 30% increase from the 10.3 million shares held at the end of the first quarter, which itself was an increase of 43% from 7.2 million shares at the close of the previous year.
As Lennar's stock experienced a downturn in the third quarter, Berkshire continued its buying spree in private until its stake reached 10% in mid-September. This triggered an SEC requirement for disclosures within two business days.
Following this, two filings last week revealed that Berkshire acquired nearly $349 million of Lennar shares across six out of the seven trading days between September 17 and September 25. This amounts to an average daily purchase of approximately $58 million.
In contrast, the average daily purchase this week, through Wednesday, stands at just under $18 million. With no further filings reported by Friday evening, it suggests Berkshire did not engage in any buying on Thursday, bringing the four-day average down to $13.5 million. Any Friday activity will be known after Monday's filing deadline.
While Berkshire is making a strategic bet on Lennar's potential to benefit from a long-term recovery in the housing market, Morgan Stanley holds a more cautious short-term outlook. The firm initiated coverage on Thursday with an "underweight" rating and a price target of $65 per share, representing a potential decline of nearly 19% from the current trading price.
The U.S. housing market faces ongoing challenges. Mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed loan have climbed to 7.30%, the highest since late 2023, deterring potential buyers who are also contending with elevated house prices compared to last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association and CNBC's Diana Olick.
Buffett is Back in the Top Ten
Warren Buffett has regained the No. 10 position on Forbes' real-time ranking of the world's richest billionaires. He surpassed Amancio Ortega, founder of the fashion group Inditex (known for Zara), as Inditex shares experienced a month-long decline of approximately 8%.
As of Friday evening, Forbes estimates Buffett's net worth at $143 billion, exceeding Ortega's $140 billion.
Buffett is the sole non-tech magnate among the top ten wealthiest individuals globally. While Bloomberg's Billionaires Index shows similar names in its top 10, rankings and net worth figures may vary slightly. Jim Walton of Walmart is ranked 11th on Bloomberg's list with $134 billion, while Ortega's fortune is estimated at $125 billion, placing him 15th.
BUFFETT & BERKSHIRE AROUND THE INTERNET
Some links may require a subscription:
- Bloomberg (subscription): Ackman Plans to Raise Outside Capital in Push to Emulate Buffett
- Inc.: Warren Buffett Says 1 Skill Makes You Worth 50 Percent More. I Learned It Selling Crunch 'n Munch at the Boston Garden
- TheStreet on Yahoo: What is Howard Buffett's net worth in 2026? The new Berkshire chair's wealth & shares
- The Motley Fool: Prediction: Berkshire Hathaway Joins the $2 Trillion Club Before 2032
HIGHLIGHTS FROM CNBC'S BUFFETT ARCHIVE
Buffett teaches his kids a lesson with a slot machine (2007)
In a 2007 interview, Warren Buffett explained his reasoning behind placing a slot machine on the third floor of his home during his children's upbringing.
WARREN BUFFETT: The human propensity to gamble is huge. [...] I mean, if you want to tax the ignorant, people who will do things with the odds against them, you know, you just put it in and guys like me don't have to pay taxes. [...] And, believe me, when a government makes it easy for people to take their Social Security checks and start pulling handles or participating in lotteries or whatever it may be, it's a pretty cynical act.
BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH
Twelve months
BRK.A stock price: $754,790.00
BRK.B stock price: $502.65
BRK.B P/E (TTM): 12.64
Berkshire Cash as of June 30: $365.5 billion (Down 8.0% from March 31)
Excluding Rail Cash and Subtracting T-Bills Payable: $359.2 billion (Down 3.8% from March 31)
Berkshire repurchased $4.5 billion of its shares in Q2 2026.
BERKSHIRE'S TOP EQUITY HOLDINGS - Oct. 2, 2026
Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S. and Japan, by market value, based on the latest closing prices. Holdings are as of June 30, 2026, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on Aug. 14, 2026, except for: Mitsubishi, which is as of April 30, 2026. The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@cnbc.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)
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Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. They are collected here on Berkshire's website.
-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
