Berkshire Hathaway’s Q1 2026 13F told a clear story: Greg Abel is deploying capital aggressively. Three names in particular saw heavy accumulation, and each carries a data-driven thesis that helps explain why the world’s most patient institutional investor is deploying capital right now. Remember, 13F holdings are point-in-time snapshots as of quarter end, not real-time positions. But the pattern of buying tells you where conviction sat as of Q1.
Post-annual-meeting, investors are still parsing Abel’s early portfolio fingerprints. Here are the three stocks that stood out, and the numbers behind why smart money is quietly building positions in August.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL)
Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL | DAL Price Prediction) is the boldest signal in the filing. Berkshire initiated a brand new 39.8 million share position worth roughly $2.6 billion, a notable reversal given the firm famously exited all airlines during COVID. The stock is responding: shares closed at $92.77 on August 4, up 34.71% year-to-date and 78.55% over the past year.
The Q2 2026 earnings report supports the accumulation thesis. Delta posted adjusted EPS of $1.56 against a $1.50 consensus, its fifth consecutive quarterly beat. High-margin revenue streams are the story: premium product revenue rose 17%, loyalty revenue jumped 19%, and American Express remuneration hit $2.40 billion, up 16% year-over-year. Diversified high-margin revenue now sits at 61% of total.
Management affirmed a full-year 2026 EPS range of $6.50 to $7.50 with $3 to $4 billion in free cash flow, and announced a 15% dividend increase starting the September quarter. CEO Ed Bastian framed the setup directly: "Delta is executing from a position of strength…affirming the guidance…to grow earnings by 20 percent, overcoming a multi-billion dollar fuel headwind." Analyst consensus is 96% bullish across 25 buy ratings against a single sell.
Risk: Non-fuel unit costs climbed 6.8% year-over-year, above the long-term target, and operating margin compressed 4.5 points to 8.8%. Fuel volatility remains the wildcard.
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) saw the most aggressive positioning of the three. Berkshire increased its GOOGL shares held by 204% and simultaneously initiated a brand new Class C position in the same quarter. Shares trade at $377.65, up 20.81% year-to-date and 94.18% over the past year.
Q2 2026 was a genuine blowout. Google reported EPS of $9.11 against a $3.04 consensus, its 11th consecutive EPS beat, on revenue of $119.80 billion, up 24.2% year-over-year. Google Cloud is the accelerator, with revenue accelerating to 82% growth at $24.77 billion and operating income doubling. Nearly 90% of the Fortune 100 now use Gemini Enterprise, and Gemini models process 22 billion API tokens per minute with 950 million monthly active users on the Gemini App.
CEO Sundar Pichai captured the setup: "Q2 was an amazing quarter, with Alphabet revenues growing 24% year-over-year and Google Cloud revenues accelerating to 82% growth, driven by demand for AI infrastructure and AI solutions." Operating margin expanded to 34%, and the stock still trades at a P/E of just 17. Analyst sentiment sits at 91% bullish with zero bearish ratings across 64 analysts.
Risk: Capex is the swing factor. Q2 capex hit $44.92 billion, doubling year-over-year, pushing free cash flow to negative $5.86 billion. Long-term debt rose from $46.5 billion to $98.2 billion, and buybacks were suspended in Q2.
Lennar (NYSE: LEN)
Lennar (NYSE:LEN) is the contrarian pick. Berkshire raised its Lennar stake by 43.24% in Q1, buying into weakness. Shares trade at $87.02, down 14.03% year-to-date and 25.27% over one year. Analysts are cautious: 44% bearish versus 11% bullish. That is precisely the setup Berkshire tends to like.
The insider signal reinforces the thesis. On July 10, 2026, eight Lennar directors executed synchronized share purchases at $84.27, following larger May accumulations by directors Olivera and Sonnenfeld at $89.78. Coordinated board-level buying rarely happens by accident.
Operationally, Lennar is engineering leverage into the eventual housing recovery. Construction cycle time hit a record-low 121 days, construction costs are down 13% over the last several years, and the asset-light model keeps less than 5% of land on the balance sheet. Management repurchased 5 million shares for $447 million at an average of $89.35 in Q2. CEO Stuart Miller framed the inflection: "the gap between our current incentive levels of 12.9% and normalized levels of 4% to 6% is narrowing for the first time in three years." June housing starts also rebounded to 1,427 thousand annualized units, up 19.0% from May.
Risk: Q2 EPS came in at $1.24, down from $1.81 a year earlier, and gross margin on home sales compressed to 15.6% from 17.8%. If mortgage rates stay elevated and the 4.2% inflation reading proves sticky, the recovery timeline stretches further out.
What to Watch Next
Three positions, three distinct theses: a cyclical rerating in Delta, an AI capex flywheel at Google, and a contrarian housing entry in Lennar. The common thread is timing. Berkshire moved aggressively when consensus was cautious, and each name now offers a measurable data point supporting the case. Keep an eye on the stocks as Q3 earnings roll in.
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