They don't call him the Oracle of Omaha for nothing!
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A +0.69%) (BRK.B +0.86%) CEO and Chairman Warren Buffett is widely considered the greatest investor of all time, inspiring millions of investors along the way. Over his six decades at the helm of the giant conglomerate, he and his hand-picked team have worked to identify stocks of good companies with good management that are undervalued by the market.
It's worked extremely well. Berkshire's stock has generated a compound annual growth rate of almost 20%, double the average annual return of the S&P 500 over that time.
NYSE: BRK.B
Key Data Points
Why not replicate that success?
It's not difficult to build a similar portfolio by studying Buffett's methods. The current portfolio of publicly traded U.S. stocks owned by Berkshire Hathaway has more than 40 stocks and is worth more than $300 billion.
And that doesn't even include the scores of companies Berkshire owns outright, like GEICO Auto Insurance, BNSF railway, and Fruit of the Loom.
A broad portfolio
The stocks Berkshire owns minority stakes in range in price from about $8 (Liberty Latin America Series A) to more than $7,600 a share (NVR Inc). It would be extremely difficult and expensive (not to mention time-consuming) to attempt to mirror that portfolio, even if you bought just one share of each stock.
But if you have just $1,000 to invest and want to create a portfolio that looks a lot like something Buffett would hold (and does), here are six stocks to start with. And you can get a share of each for a combined total price of less than $1,000.
Six iconic Buffett stocks
1. Apple
Let's start with Apple (AAPL +1.18%), the giant consumer electronics company and third-largest public company on the planet by market cap. Buffett and Berkshire first invested in Apple in early 2016 with a $1 billion share purchase and continued to increase the stake over the years. Today, Berkshire owns $69.8 billion in Apple shares. That makes it the company's largest holding, at more than 23% of its portfolio. It has netted the company a gain of 524% so far.
Apple is the only stock in this mini portfolio that's down for the year, but Buffett continues to hold it and has great confidence in its long-term prospects. The share price is currently around $249.
2. Bank of America
Berkshire made its initial investment in Bank of America (BAC +0.91%) in August 2011 by purchasing preferred stock and warrants. It converted its warrants to common stock in 2017. The national bank accounts for more than 10% of Berkshire's portfolio. And the stock is up 17% this year. Plus, it pays a nice dividend yield of 2.14%. A share costs about $51.50.
3. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola (KO +0.96%) is currently Berkshire's fourth largest holdings. A big believer in holding businesses with natural economic moats, Buffett began buying the iconic beverage company's shares in 1988 because he believed it was undervalued. The stock has a yield of 3.04% and is up 9.4% so far this year. Shares trade at about $68.
Image source: Getty Images.
4. American Express
American Express (AXP +1.89%) has been in the Berkshire portfolio since 1998, though Buffett has increased Berkshire's stake since then and it now owns nearly 22% of outstanding AXP shares worth $51.3 billion. This stock is relatively expensive, at about $340 a share. It has climbed almost 15% in 2025.
5. Chevron
Berkshire made an initial investment in the energy giant Chevron (CVX 3.88%) in 2020 and has been buying and selling since. It's one of Buffett's most actively traded holdings, and it has an attractive 4.5% yield. The stock is currently priced at around $153 a share. It's up 6% this year.
6. Nucor
Nucor (NUE +0.95%) is a steel manufacturer that Berkshire first bought back in the 1990s, considering it a great value play. Buffett purchased another 6.6 million shares this year for about $850 million. Its current price per share is about $133. The share price is up almost 14% this year.
These six stocks are spread across different sectors of the economy, from technology and energy to financials, consumer defensive, and basic materials.
Purchasing one share of each will cost a total of about $995. That will buy you a nice mini-Buffett starter portfolio. And you'll have $5 left over for a latte.
