Omaha, May 17, 2026, 15:05 (CDT)
Berkshire Hathaway made sweeping changes to its first-quarter holdings under new CEO Greg Abel. The firm disclosed a $2.65 billion bet on Delta Air Lines, boosted its investment in Alphabet, and exited Amazon, Visa, Mastercard, and UnitedHealth.
Berkshire’s first-quarter 13F listed 39.8 million shares in Delta and about $16.6 billion in Alphabet, counting both Class A and Class C shares.
Abel’s latest filing is the clearest so far on what he’s doing with Berkshire’s investments after taking over for Warren Buffett at the start of the year. Buffett remains chairman. Investors are watching if Berkshire will keep Buffett’s steady pace or start putting its growing cash pile to work more aggressively.
U.S. markets are closed for the weekend. Investors will need to wait until Monday when the New York Stock Exchange opens trading at 9:30 a.m. Eastern and closes at 4 p.m.
Berkshire’s first-quarter report draws attention to recent activity. Insurance and other segments ended March holding $51.5 billion in cash and equivalents, along with $339.3 billion in short-term U.S. Treasurys. Cash flow for the quarter shows $15.94 billion in stock purchases, while $24.09 billion in equities were sold.
Berkshire ramped up its Alphabet position to nearly 58 million shares from 17.8 million last quarter. The buy-in takes Berkshire further into major U.S. tech after dropping Amazon. Apple stays as Berkshire’s largest public holding.
Berkshire unloaded a batch of stocks last quarter. It exited Visa, Mastercard, UnitedHealth, Domino’s Pizza, Aon, and Pool. The firm also reduced its Chevron stake by 35%. Chevron still sits among Berkshire’s bigger bets. The regulatory filing didn’t break out who was behind each trade. Reuters reported in February that Abel controls 94% of the stock portfolio, while Ted Weschler manages the other 6%.
Berkshire is back in airlines with its Delta buy, after dropping Delta, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines early in the pandemic. Buffett said then that “the world had changed” for aviation. Reuters
Delta says the business looks different now. Back in April, CEO Ed Bastian said “demand remains strong,” but the airline is set to slow capacity growth while working to recover higher fuel costs. Chief Commercial Officer Joe Esposito put adjusted revenue at $14.2 billion and called it a “March quarter record.” Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines reported premium revenue up 14% from a year earlier. Loyalty revenue rose 13%. The carrier’s maintenance, repair and overhaul business—serving both in-house and external clients—added more than $200 million over last year’s haul. Adjusted net debt is down to $13.5 billion.
The trade is still risky. Delta based its outlook on an all-in fuel price of about $4.30 a gallon for the second quarter and expects fuel costs to rise over $2 billion at the forward curve. The 13F only shows holdings as of March 31, so Berkshire’s later moves aren’t known.
Berkshire disclosed a Macy’s stake worth about $55 million and said it raised its New York Times position to 9.4%. Macy’s and Delta shares climbed after-hours Friday after the disclosure. Alphabet shares barely moved.
Berkshire’s new filing doesn’t signal a total break from Buffett’s style. The top holdings are still Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Bank of America and Chevron. Its core businesses like Geico and BNSF railroad are steady. But Abel’s first full shuffle puts fewer older stocks on the books, manages cash tighter, and takes two main swings: landing bigger stakes in Alphabet and Delta.
