Berkshire Hathaway’s Latest Investment Moves
On Friday, Berkshire Hathaway announced a significant $2.65 billion investment in Delta Air Lines, alongside a smaller investment in Macy’s. This comes after the company offloaded several minor holdings, including shares in Amazon, UnitedHealth Group, and credit card giants Visa and Mastercard.
This shift is part of a broader restructuring of the company’s portfolio during the first quarter, coinciding with Greg Abell’s recent appointment as CEO, succeeding Warren Buffett.
According to a regulatory filing, Berkshire has notably increased its stake in Alphabet, Google’s parent company, now totaling about $16.6 billion—making it one of their largest stock investments.
Additionally, Berkshire has more than doubled its investment in The New York Times, holding around 9% of the company. The filing reflects Berkshire’s holdings in U.S.-listed stocks as of March 31, which make up a substantial part of their $288 billion portfolio.
During the January to March timeframe, the company purchased $15.94 billion in stock while selling off $24.09 billion.
Most of these sales seem to have been directed by Mr. Abel, who has taken over a significant portion of Berkshire’s stock portfolio. This includes overseeing part of the portfolio previously managed by Todd Combs, a past Buffett protégé who departed in December to join JPMorgan Chase & Co.
In February, Abel noted that Berkshire owned 94% of its holdings directly, with investment manager Ted Weschler managing the remaining 6%.
Berkshire had previously held an 11% stake in Delta Air Lines but divested that along with similar stakes in other airlines like American Airlines and Southwest Airlines back in April 2020, when the pandemic hit. Buffett had remarked that “the world has changed” for the airline industry then.
Seen as one of the best-managed major airlines in the U.S., Delta’s shares climbed by 3.2% in after-hours trading, reflecting what many investors interpret as a vote of confidence from Berkshire.
While Delta didn’t comment on the investment, Macy’s shares also experienced a boost after it was revealed that Berkshire acquired 3 million shares valued at around $55 million, jumping 5.9% in after-hours trading.
