Berkshire Hathaway significantly raised its ownership in Alphabet during the second quarter of the year. The company’s equity holding in the Google parent reached about $37.9 billion by the end of June. This increase was largely due to a $10 billion private stock purchase announced in early June. Alphabet had sought this funding to support its massive AI infrastructure buildout.
Berkshire Hathaway also continued to invest in the airline industry, a sector that has historically attracted Buffett’s attention, according to CNBC. The company’s investment in airlines grew to about $5.4 billion by the end of June.
Berkshire also increased its holdings in other major companies during the quarter. Its Class B shares of Coca-Cola rose by 25% to nearly 298,000 shares.
The company also held a number of shares in Kraft Heinz at the end of June. Berkshire held 325,634,818 Kraft Heinz shares, worth about $7.69 billion at June 30. Berkshire’s 10-Q gives the position a carrying value of $8.76 billion.
Berkshire Hathaway ended a long streak of net stock sales and instead became a net buyer in the second quarter. The company made nearly $20 billion in net purchases of stocks during this time. This marked a shift from the previous quarter, when Berkshire had only made net purchases of $4 billion.
The second quarter also saw Berkshire complete its acquisition of Taylor Morrison, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based homebuilder. This deal was part of Berkshire’s broader strategy to expand its presence in real estate and construction sectors.
The move signals that Berkshire is actively investing in both technology and traditional industries.
IMAGE: Warren Buffett speaking to a group of students from the University of Kansas School of Business. Photo: Mark Hirschey / Wikimedia, taken 2005-05-06, CC BY-SA 2.0