Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B | BRK-B Price Prediction) on December 31, 2025, after six decades leading the conglomerate he transformed from a struggling textile mill into a $1 trillion empire. The “Oracle of Omaha” left his successor, Greg Abel, with a very concentrated portfolio: 70% of Berkshire’s $381 billion portfolio is invested in just seven stocks. Abel, who has served as vice chair overseeing non-insurance operations, officially took over as CEO on January 1, 2026. At 95 years old, Buffett isn’t fully retiring—he will remain chair of the board and plans to continue coming to the Omaha headquarters as much as before. However, he has stated he will be “going quiet” and leaving all decision-making to Abel.
One thing is for sure: the new CEO got to work in the first quarter, and 16 companies were eliminated, leaving just 26 stocks in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. In addition, Abel stunned the world as the company made its first major acquisition of a publicly traded company in years, buying homebuilder Taylor Morrison (NYSE: TMHC). The deal was priced at $72.50 per share in an all-cash transaction, implying an equity value of $6.8 billion and an enterprise value of $8.5 billion, including the homebuilder’s net debt. The agreement, one of the first major acquisitions under Abel, delivers a 24% premium to the target’s prior stock price. It is expected to close in the second half of the year, with Taylor Morrison continuing to operate under its existing management team. Before Taylor Morrison, the company’s last major buyout of an entire publicly traded company was Alleghany, which was acquired for $11.6 billion in 2022.
After the portfolio purge and the first acquisition since the purchase of OxyChem from Occidental Petroleum, just four stocks now make up 53.8% of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. Of the four stocks, only one saw any selling in the first quarter. However, the sale was quite minor, reducing their massive investment by less than 1%.
Why do we cover Berkshire Hathaway stocks?
Few investors have the results and reputation that Buffett has garnered over the past 60 years. Though he has stepped away from the CEO chair, his impact and investment guidelines are likely to remain in place long after he is gone. While investing has evolved since Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, buying good companies with products and services recognized worldwide and paying dividends will always remain a timeless approach.
Here are the four companies that now make up 53.8% of Berkshire Hathaway. All are rated Buy at top Wall Street firms we cover.
American Express
American Express (NYSE: AXP) is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation specializing in payment cards. The stock pays a dividend yield of 1.07%. American Express is a globally integrated payments company operating card-issuing, merchant-acquiring, and card network businesses.
The company offers products and services to customers worldwide, including consumers, small businesses, mid-sized companies, and large corporations. Its segments include:
- U.S. Consumer Services, which offers travel and lifestyle services, as well as banking and non-card financing products.
- Commercial Services offers payment, expense management, banking, and non-card financing products.
- International Card Services provides services to international customers, including travel and lifestyle services, and manages certain international joint ventures and its loyalty coalition business.
- Global Merchant and Network Services operates a payments network that processes and settles card transactions, acquires merchants, and provides multichannel marketing programs, capabilities, services, and data analytics.
Berkshire Hathaway owns 151,610,700 shares, 22% of American Express’s float and 14.2% of the portfolio.
Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating with a $400 target price.
Apple
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services, offering a small dividend of 0.35%. It is almost incomprehensible that the legacy technology giant, even after a recent fourth-quarter sale of 10 million shares and a surge in sales over the past two years, still holds a 227,917,808-share position that accounts for 21.8% of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio, which holds 1.6% of Apple’s stock.
The company offers:
- The iPhone, a line of smartphones
- Mac, a line of personal computers
- iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets
- Wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod
Apple also offers AppleCare support and cloud services, and operates various platforms, including the App Store, which enables customers to discover and download applications and digital content, such as books, music, videos, games, and podcasts.
In addition, the company offers various services, such as:
- Apple Arcade, a game subscription service
- Apple Fitness+, a personalized fitness service
- Apple Music, which gives users a curated listening experience with on-demand radio stations
- Apple News+, a subscription news and magazine service
- Apple TV+, which offers exclusive original content
- Apple Card, a co-branded credit card
- Apple Pay, a cashless payment service
Wedbush has an Outperform rating with a $400 target price.
Bank of America
While Buffett trimmed his position in a big way over the past two years, this quality financial giant remains an exceptional long-term holding with a solid 2% dividend yield. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is a bank holding company that reported impressive Q4 results. Berkshire Hathaway owns 513,624,165 shares, which is 8.3% of the portfolio and 7.2% of the float. Berkshire did lower its Bank of America position in Q1 2026, but only modestly. According to the Q1 2026 13F filing, it was reduced by just 0.71%, a tiny cut compared to other positions.
Its segments include:
- Consumer Banking offers a range of credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses.
- Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM) comprises two businesses: Merrill Wealth Management, which offers tailored solutions to meet clients’ needs through a comprehensive suite of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products. Bank of America Private Bank provides comprehensive wealth management solutions.
- Global Banking offers a range of lending-related products and services, including integrated working capital management and treasury solutions, as well as underwriting and advisory services.
- Global Markets offers sales and trading services, as well as research services, to institutional clients across fixed income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity markets.
UBS has a Buy rating with a $63 target price.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. This company remains a top long-time holding of Buffett. Berkshire owns 400 million shares, representing 9.3% of the float and 9.7% of the portfolio. The stock pays a dependable 2.46% dividend.
Coca-Cola is the world’s largest beverage company, offering consumers more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most valuable and recognizable brands, the portfolio features 20 billion-dollar brands, including:
- Diet Coke
- Coca-Cola Light
- Coca-Cola Zero Sugar
- Caffeine-free Diet Coke
- Cherry Coke
- Fanta Orange
- Fanta Zero Orange
- Fanta Zero Sugar
- Fanta Apple
- Sprite
- Sprite Zero Sugar
- Simply Orange
- Simply Apple
- Simply Grapefruit
- Fresca
- Schweppes
- Dasani
- Fuze Tea
- Glacéau Smartwater
- Glacéau Vitaminwater
- Gold Peak
- Ice Dew
- Powerade
- Topo Chico
- Minute Maid
Globally, it is the top provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, juices, and juice drinks. Through the world’s most extensive beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the company’s beverages at a rate of over 1.9 billion servings per day. And remember that the company owns 19.5% of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST), which continues to deliver strong financial results.
Citigroup has a Buy rating with a $91 target price.
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