Warren Buffett is no longer the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, but until the market hears otherwise, the equity portfolio is still composed of components bought under his careful watch. His knack for stock picking, which led to massive market-crushing gains during his tenure, has earned him a loyal fan base of eager followers.
If you have $1,000 to invest and you're looking for stock inspiration from the Oracle of Omaha, I recommend American Express (AXP 1.39%) and Alphabet (GOOG 1.68%) (GOOGL 1.66%).
Image source: The Motley Fool.
1. American Express
American Express is one of Berkshire Hathaway's longest-held stocks, and it's the second-largest position in the portfolio, accounting for 16.7% of the total. That's a lot of confidence in the financial services company.
That confidence is well-deserved. American Express continues to demonstrate strong growth, resonating across age groups throughout its target affluent consumer base, and it has proven resilient in a tough environment as its customers keep spending.
NYSE: AXP
Key Data Points
The membership model drives loyalty, and American Express is continually refreshing its cards and creating more value for its members. Card fees are a recurring revenue stream that goes straight to the bottom line. Card fees increased 17% year over year in the 2025 fourth quarter, and they're an important growth driver, along with higher spending; total sales increased 10% in the quarter.
Among the many positive updates, millennial and Gen-Z customers accounted for 65% of new consumer global cards in the fourth quarter, and they were also responsible for the highest growth in spending. That's a great indication for the company's continued prospects over the next several decades.
2. Alphabet
Alphabet has a diverse, growing tech business starting with Google, the world's largest search engine, by far. The company has leveraged its lead into a booming advertising segment, and the entire operation is now underpinned by a robust artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
Instead of the negative impact expected from the advent of ChatGPT, Google now offers its own AI summaries and AI mode to give searchers the information they're looking for using the company's own large language models (LLMs). Advertising is supported by the AI platform, which gives more targeted results.
Although it works with Nvidia to bring the most powerful chips to its customers, the company also designs its own Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips, which are in demand from many outside clients. It also recently released its latest version of the Gemini LLM, which already has more than 750 million active users.
NASDAQ: GOOG
Key Data Points
But it's a lot more than AI. Paid subscriptions were 325 million in the 2025 fourth quarter, driven by YouTube and Google One, and cloud revenue increased 48% year over year. Total revenue was up 15%, and operating margin remained a robust 32%.
Alphabet invested $91 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, and management expects to invest $185 billion in AI development this year. While that's worrying the market, it also keeps Alphabet in the AI race, where it has tons of opportunities.
