How Warren Buffett's Berkshire Portfolio Changed So Far This Year
Key Takeaways
- At the end of the third quarter, Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile swelled to a record $325.2 billion.
- Warren Buffett scaled back Berkshire’s stake in its largest holding, Apple, and trimmed its position in Bank of America and other long-held investments.
- Berkshire made at least four new stock purchases this year—Ulta Beauty, Domino’s Pizza, Heico Corp., and Pool Corp.
- Notable exits included HP, Paramount Global, Snowflake, and Floor & Decor.
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) has had an interesting year portfolio-wise with its cash pile reaching a record high, notable cutbacks in some long-standing investments, and some offbeat new bets.
As the year draws to an end, let’s take a look at how Berkshire’s holdings have changed this year so far.
We’re using the most recently available regulatory filings for this data. However, they may not represent the most current state of Berkshire positions as reports for the fourth quarter of 2024 will be filed early next year.
Berkshire’s Record Cash Pile
At the end of the third quarter, Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile swelled to a record $325.2 billion, with more than 88%—$288 billion—invested in U.S. Treasurys.
Investors will be looking to next year to see how Berkshire deploys that cash—whether it’s investing in other stocks or buying back its own shares.
A lot of that money came from selling stocks. Berkshire cut back on some major holdings and even orchestrated a few exits.
Big Cuts to Apple, BofA Stakes
Buffett scaled back Berkshire’s stake in its largest holding, Apple (AAPL), to just a third of what it was at the end of last year. The company sold more than 600 million Apple shares this year, bringing the value of its stake down to roughly $70 billion at the end of September from nearly $175 billion at the end of 2023.
Buffett notably trimmed Berkshire’s holdings of Bank of America (BAC) stock as well. Berkshire sold more than 235 million shares in the country’s second-largest bank, reducing it stake to less than 10% of the bank’s outstanding shares by October and it no longer has to report its transactions.
The company also reduced its holdings this year of Capital One Financial (COF), Charter Communications (CHTR), Chevron (CVX), Louisiana-Pacific (LPX), Nu Holdings (NU), and T-Mobile US (TMUS).
New Stocks in Berkshire’s Portfolio
Berkshire Hathaway made at least four new stock purchases this year by betting on beauty products maker Ulta Beauty (ULTA), Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), aerospace and electronics firm Heico Corp. (HEI), and swimming pool supplier Pool Corp. (POOL).
Berkshire first revealed its stake in Ulta Beauty in the second quarter but sold more than 96% of its shares in the third quarter—unusual for the conglomerate, which is known to hold its investments for many years.
However, Berkshire added to its Heico holdings in the third quarter, hiking it stake by a little over 5,000 shares to 1.05 million shares. The company also added to its existing positions this year in Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and Sirius XM (SIRI).
Technically, Berkshire got into a new position in insurance company Chubb (CB) last year, but it requested the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) keep that information private. The stake was finally revealed earlier this year.
Stock Positions Berkshire Exited
One of the biggest stock exits for Berkshire Hathaway this year was selling its more than 22 million shares in HP (HPQ) valued at about $688 million at the end of 2023.
Buffett’s holding company also sold all its 63.3 million shares in Paramount Global (PARA) at a loss, the legendary investor admitted at Berkshire’s annual shareholders meeting held in May.
Berkshire sold its equity holdings in Floor & Decor (FND) and Snowflake (SNOW) too.