Warren Buffett may no longer be the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 0.21%)(BRK.B 0.28%), but until the 2026 first-quarter results are in, the company's quarterly data is still from under his watch, including the yet-to-be-reported fourth-quarter results.
Buffett would be the first person to admit that he makes mistakes, and his company missed out on incredible gains when it completely closed its position in Nu Holdings (NU 3.14%) at the end of 2024. Buffett rarely discusses specific trades, and there could be myriad reasons why the company sold out of it. Berkshire Hathaway participated in a late-stage private seed round before the company went public in 2021, which is how it ended up as an institutional investor in the company at its initial public offering (IPO). In other words, it's not the typical Buffett equity position.
However, it's been clear that Nu has incredible opportunities, even though it's a riskier play than the standard Buffett stock. A year after Berkshire Hathaway sold its last share, Nu stock has trounced every other Buffett stock on a U.S. stock exchange, as I predicted last May. Here how it performed in 2025 vs. the top 10 stocks in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio, which were Nucor, Heico, Capital One, Ally Financial, American Express, Bank of America, VeriSign, Apple, Moody's, and Amazon:
The list doesn't include Alphabet, which the company bought in the 2025 third quarter and gained 65% last year.
Nu is starting the year on a high, already up 11%. Let's see why it's an exciting company, and why you might want to consider adding shares to your portfolio.
Image source: Nu.
Digital banking in new markets
Nu is an all-digital bank operating in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. Over just more than a decade, the company has exploded to become the largest financial institution in Brazil by number of customers. It has moved up a notch annually for the past few years, and 61% of the adult population is now on the platform. It also has 14% of the population in Mexico and 10% of the population in Colombia, which are newer markets.
NYSE: NU
Key Data Points
It's still monetizing the Brazil user base, and it sees a long growth runway in this main market, where it's still also adding new customers at a rapid pace. It has plans to open in new markets as well, including the U.S., and the company recently said it would be opening offices in Miami, Palo Alto, and Washington, D.C. Between all of its varied growth drivers, investors should expect higher growth from Nu in the coming years.
