Warren Buffett, Not Greg Abel, Still Driving Berkshire Hathaway’s Major Stock Decisions

(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, offering news and analysis on Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.)

Buffett's Unyielding Grip on Berkshire's Stock Strategy

Just a few weeks ago, Berkshire Hathaway's second-quarter reports revealed a significant decline in its massive cash reserves, marking the first major drop since early 2022. Many, including myself, initially interpreted this as Greg Abel, the company's presumed successor, asserting his influence by deploying a "big chunk of Berkshire's cash to work."

However, with last week's detailed disclosure of Berkshire’s equity portfolio as of June 30, the narrative has become far more intricate.

Warren Buffett and Greg Abel walkthrough the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3, 2025.
David A. Grogen | CNBC

Barron's Andrew Bary contends that Abel has had no direct involvement in stock selections, instead emphasizing that Warren Buffett, even as he approaches his 96th birthday, "still likes making big investment decisions involving Berkshire's $350 billion-plus equity portfolio—and letting Berkshire holders know that he's still in the game."

While Buffett carefully mentioned regular consultations with Abel, confirming neither would act without the other’s approval, he distinctly noted in a CNBC interview last month that he had "initiated" Berkshire's Alphabet investment. This significant stake first appeared in the portfolio in the third quarter of last year.

Bloomberg News reported that Berkshire's Q2 acquisition of $10 billion in Alphabet shares directly from the company stemmed from Abel's "rapid signoff" following a "stealthy weekend call" from Goldman Sachs, orchestrating Alphabet's massive equity offering. It’s reasonable to assume Buffett also provided his endorsement.

Bary also suggests that the second-largest Q2 purchase, Delta Air Lines, was likely the work of portfolio manager Ted Weschler. He observes that Abel lacks formal portfolio management experience and appears to be concentrating on his extensive duties running Berkshire's diverse operating companies and scouting for new acquisitions. Indeed, Abel has been active in capital deployment with his $6.8 billion acquisition of Taylor Morrison Home, though this deal finalized after Q2 concluded.

A Neck-and-Neck Battle for Third in Berkshire's Portfolio

The substantial $17 billion increase in Berkshire Hathaway's Alphabet stake during the second quarter propelled Google’s parent company to become the third-largest holding in Berkshire's equity portfolio, surpassing Coca-Cola.

As of June 30, Alphabet shares boasted a market value of $37.77 billion, a lead of $5.26 billion over Coca-Cola's $32.51 billion. However, market dynamics have shifted considerably since then. Alphabet shares have since dipped by 3.5%, while Coca-Cola has rallied by an impressive 12.1%.

Consequently, as of Friday's market close, Alphabet's lead has dwindled to a razor-thin $20 million. On two specific days, July 30 and August 20, Coca-Cola even managed to momentarily overtake Alphabet by slim margins at closing bell.

Appeals Court Upholds Real Estate Commissions Settlement

A federal appeals court in St. Louis has affirmed the 2024 settlement of a class-action antitrust lawsuit against Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary HomeServices of America and the National Association of Realtors, as Reuters reports.

HomeServices committed to paying $250 million of a total settlement exceeding $1 billion. This settlement aims to resolve claims that long-standing rules governing the splitting of real estate commissions artificially inflated prices. As part of the agreement, the NAR pledged to revise these contentious rules.

Despite the settlement, some plaintiffs argued they were short-changed and sought to block the deal. However, this week's ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals supports the lower court's approval of the settlement.

A newly built single-family residential home is shown with a sold sign at a small costal development in Encinitas, California, U.S., Aug. 20, 2026.
Mike Blake | Reuters

A lawyer representing some objectors indicated to Reuters that they might pursue a Supreme Court review, stating, "Everyone got next to nothing for the sake of settling. There's something just not right about that."

The settlement followed a 2023 jury trial that found the defendants liable for $1.78 billion in damages, an amount that could have been tripled under U.S. antitrust law.

HomeServices CEO Chris Kelly expressed relief, noting that this week's court victory provides "additional certainty" to the company, its agents, and customers.

However, the unit's parent, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, still faces a separate proposed antitrust class action suit concerning real estate commissions. A judge ruled last April that it is not covered by the HomeServices settlement. When BHE was initially targeted two years ago, a plaintiff's lawyer told The New York Times, "Berkshire Hathaway is the leader of the pack. It's much bigger than N.A.R... If you want to bring about change in corporate America, hit them in the pocketbook. And that's exactly where this is aimed."

Buffett & Berkshire Across the Web

Some links may require a subscription:

• Investor's Business Daily: Warren Buffett's Portfolio Is Looking Even More Like The Dow Jones Index. This Is Why.
• Barron's on MSN: Financial advisors love Warren Buffett, but they don't always agree with him
• MarketWatch on Morningstar: Berkshire Hathaway bet big on the U.S. housing market. You probably shouldn't follow suit.
• Business Insider on MSN: Elon Musk finally has Warren Buffett as a shareholder — sort of
• Bloomberg's Masters in Business video podcast: Learning from Buffett and Munger
• Investopedia: Warren Buffett's Lessons on How to Avoid Classic Investor Mistakes and Spot Traps Early
• ResiClub: Inside the shotgun marriage of Berkshire Hathaway and Taylor Morrison—and the road ahead to form America's 4th largest homebuilder
• Fortune: Meet the self-made billionaire who bought a nearly bankrupt company off Warren Buffett for $1,000 and turned it into a $85 billion giant

Highlights from CNBC's Buffett Archive

'We look at what the market says is the utility' (1994)

Watch Warren Buffett weigh in on how he judges a product's usefulness when considering an acquisition. Here’s an excerpt from the 1994 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting:

VIDEO1:4401:44

AUDIENCE MEMBER: I'm wondering, when you are considering an acquisition, how you look at the usefulness of the product?

WARREN BUFFETT: Well, obviously we look at what the market says is the utility. And the market has voted very heavily for Dexter Shoe, just to be an example.

I don't know many how many pairs of shoes they were turning out back in 1958 or thereabouts, but year after year, people have essentially voted for the utility of that product.

There are 750 million or so 8-ounce servings of one product or another from the Coca-Cola Company consumed every day around the world. And there are those of us who think the utility is very high. I can't make it through the day without a few. But there are other people that might rate it differently.

But essentially, people are going to get thirsty and if this is the way they take care of their thirst better than — and they prefer that to other forms — then I would rate the utility high of the product. But, I think it's hard to argue with the market on that.

I mean, people — some people may think that, you know, listening to a rock concert is not something of high utility. Other people might think it's terrific.

And so, we would judge that — I don't think we would come to an independent decision that there was some great utility residing in some product that had been available to the public for a long time, but that the public and not endorsed in any way.

Berkshire Stock Watch

Here’s a snapshot of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock performance and financials:

Four weeks

[Infographic data for 4-week performance - omitted as visual not provided]

Twelve months

[Infographic data for 12-month performance - omitted as visual not provided]

• BRK.A stock price: $743,500.00
• BRK.B stock price: $495.82
• BRK.B P/E (TTM): 12.47
• Berkshire market capitalization: $1,061,294,568,527
• 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.

(All figures are as of the date of publication, unless otherwise indicated)

Berkshire's Top Equity Holdings - Aug. 21, 2026

[Infographic data for Top Equity Holdings - omitted as visual not provided]

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 August 14, 2026, except for:

• Mitsubishi, which is as of August 28, 2025

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@nbcuni.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