Although Warren Buffett is on his way out as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, studying his stock picks is a smart move for investors. He's known to be a value investor and only picks stocks that he understands, so when artificial intelligence (AI) companies show up in Berkshire Hathaway'w portfolio, investors would be wise to pay attention.
Two AI stocks Berkshire owns that I'm excited about are Amazon (AMZN 1.58%) and Alphabet (GOOG 1.49%) (GOOGL 1.42%). Both of these stocks look primed to soar higher in 2026, and I think they make for excellent investments right now.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Buffett may not have bought these stocks
Although Buffett has been the primary money manager at Berkshire Hathaway, there are others who also have management over some funds. Todd Combs (who now works for JPMorgan) and Ted Weschler ran a portion of the Berkshire portfolio and were known to invest in more tech-centric stocks than Buffett did. So, it's possible that the Amazon and Alphabet purchases were made under their direction.
Alphabet is Berkshire's most recent purchase, and accounts for about 1.7% of its total portfolio. Amazon is a far older holding, and Berkshire has owned shares since 2019, although it only makes up 0.7% of its portfolio. With the size of the positions in Berkshire's investment portfolio, Buffett likely gave them the thumbs up to purchase these shares. So even if they weren't originally his purchase, he has still hung on to them.
Both Amazon and Alphabet look like great investments right now, so I'd be surprised if Berkshire were looking to pivot away from them.
Alphabet and Amazon look primed to soar in 2026
Alphabet has had a great 2025, while Amazon's has been lackluster. Alphabet's stock is up around 60%, while Amazon's is nearly flat, rising only 3%.
Alphabet's stellar performance comes after many doubted it could be successful in the artificial intelligence realm at the start of the year. There were concerns about Alphabet being broken up for a monopoly, falling behind in generative AI technology, and its cash cow, Google Search, being replaced by generative AI. However, none of those investment theses panned out in 2025, which is why the stock soared.
NASDAQ: GOOGL
Key Data Points
These same points that allowed it to soar in 2025 shoould continue in 2026, allowing Alphabet to continue down its path of dominance next year. With Alphabet leading the way in generative AI after trailing for so long, it opens up new revenue streams that could trickle in.
Furthermore, it's potentially selling its custom AI chip, the Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), as an alternative to graphics processing units (GPUs) on the open market for the first time. So 2026 could be a monster year for Alphabet, and owning shares like Berkshire is a smart move.
Amazon's lackluster 2025 isn't on account of its business. Amazon has grown quickly for its size, with revenue rising 13% in the third quarter. The highlight of its sprawling business is Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing unit. AWS is a critical part of Amazon, as it accounts for 66% of operating income despite making up just 18% of revenue.
Furthermore, AWS just posted its fastest growth quarter in multiple years, which should have gotten the market excited about its prospects. However, the market mostly ignored Amazon in 2025, setting it up for success in 2026.
NASDAQ: AMZN
Key Data Points
I think Amazon could easily be the comeback stock of the year in 2026, and its dominance in the cloud computing realm, as well as its content strength in the commerce business, support that prospect. Buffett may be on his way out at Berkshire Hathaway, but his investment picks remain. With Alphabet and Amazon still being fairly large holdings, it's another vote of confidence for these two stocks.
