Greg Abel's first quarter as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA 0.42%)(BRKB 0.75%) after Warren Buffett's transition to chairman has come and gone, and with his equity positions finally revealed, investors finally get to see whether Abel is changing the company's approach.
While Abel did a major overhaul of the equity portfolio, the final tally looks surprisingly like a portfolio under Buffett. The stocks are slightly different, but the model is the same. Here's what the new, Abel-directed Berkshire Hathaway equity portfolio looks like.
New consumer favorites
Berkshire Hathaway's latest 13F filing, for the 2025 first quarter, definitely has Abel's new stamp. He exited a stunning 15 positions in the quarter and added two new positions, Delta Air Lines (DAL 2.91%) and Macy's (M +2.97%), in addition to expanding and reducing several others.
Delta is a returning stock. Berkshire Hathaway first bought it in 2016, and it sold out of it when COVID-19 started and air travel was highly restricted. Macy's is a first-time position.
Image source: Macy's.
Both of these stocks look cheap right now, but they aren't trading at a tremendous discount to recent averages. Regarding the Delta purchase, Abel may see a return to travel, as the business world continues to evolve and remote work hasn't taken off as much as expected.
Macy's has been demonstrating progress toward its goal of becoming a more efficient company, selling off its real estate and closing some of its stores. It has been reporting positive comparable sales and increasing profitability.
NYSE: DAL
Key Data Points
The most notable positions
The most notable change in the portfolio was the addition to the Alphabet (GOOG 1.93%) position. Berkshire first took a position in Alphabet last year, and it added around 40 million shares in the first quarter, worth around $11 billion.
Alphabet has consistently been one of the cheapest "Magnificent Seven" stocks, trading at 30 times trailing-12-month earnings today. However, it was significantly cheaper during the March pullback, and it's possible Abel and his team bought it then. Alphabet is now the portfolio's fifth-largest position, representing 6.9% of the total.
NYSE: BRKB
Key Data Points
The stocks completely sold off include Amazon, Domino's Pizza, and longtime holdings Visa and Mastercard.
Notably, Buffett's favorite positions weren't touched at all. Apple, American Express, and Coca-Cola remain the top three positions. Abel already reassured shareholders in his first letter as CEO that these remain high-conviction stocks. Bank of America was reduced by 1% but remains a top holding.
The new portfolio strongly signals that even though Abel is making changes, the essential Buffett approach remains intact at Berkshire Hathaway. The focus is on well-established industry leaders that are good values with strong moats and a strong consumer element, whether in tech, finance, retail, or something else.
He also told shareholders in his letter that one key to his model is to "concentrate our capital in a few high conviction ideas," and that played out in the first-quarter positions.
