Berkshire Hathaway might have sold more Apple, Bank of America stock in fourth quarter

Buffett handed the reins to new CEO Greg Abel at the end of 2025, but remains chairman. Key questions include whether Berkshire continued to pare its stakes in Apple and Bank of America and whether the company sold holdings accumulated by investment manager Todd Combs, who left the company for an investment role at JPMorgan Chase in December. Berkshire followers will also be focused on a potential addition to the company’s stake in Alphabet initiated in the third quarter and of course any new holdings that were purchased in the fourth quarter. Berkshire likely will release its U.S.-listed equity holdings in a quarterly 13-F filing after the close of trading on Feb. 17. Berkshire was relatively inactive in the first three quarters of 2025. Buffett and his investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler didn’t find much to buy in a stock market that Buffett has described as offering few opportunities among the megacap stocks needed to move the needle at Berkshire, which has a market value of around $1 trillion. Berkshire bought $13.5 billion of stocks in the first nine months of 2025 and sold $24 billion. The equity portfolio totals about $300 billion. Berkshire made a well-timed purchase of nearly 18 million Alphabet shares in the third quarter when the stock averaged around $210 a share. The stock now trades at $305, valuing the position at about $5.5 billion. The Alphabet holding generated debate. Was it a Buffett purchase or one by Combs or Weschler, who together ran about 10% of the equity portfolio? The relatively small size suggested it could have been Combs or Weschler, but Berkshire doesn’t disclose which managers are behind which holdings. Berkshire’s large stakes in Apple, Coca-Cola, American Express, Occidental Petroleum, and Bank of America are assumed to be Buffett investments. Then there are the Apple and Bank of America holdings to consider. Berkshire continued to sell stock in both companies in the third quarter, dropping its interest in Apple by 42 million shares, or 15%, to 238 million shares. The conglomerate lowered its stake in Bank of America by 37 million shares, or 6%, to 568 million shares during the period. The Apple stake is down about 75% from its peak, and the Bank of America stake has been cut nearly in half since the summer of 2024. The Apple stake is Berkshire’s largest at around $60 billion. It’s possible that Berkshire continued to increase its stake in insurer Chubb in the fourth quarter, after buying four million shares in the third quarter—leaving it with 31 million shares worth over $9 billion. Another issue is whether Berkshire will sell any of the holdings that Combs accumulated during his 15-year tenure as an investment manager at Berkshire. Some Berkshire watchers think the company’s holdings in Amazon. com, VeriSign, Capital One Financial, Visa, and Mastercard could be Combs’ investments. When Berkshire investment manager Lou Simpson left the company about 15 years ago, the company sold many of his holdings. And Berkshire did the same thing with Alleghany’s equity portfolio in 2022 after it purchased the insurer. Berkshire’s equity moves often generate a market reaction, especially when the company starts a new investment. Investors typically bid up those stocks, even though Berkshire’s average holding period has been getting shorter.