What does Warren Buffett invest in? Top 10 Berkshire Hathaway holdings

What is Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?

Berkshire Hathaway was founded in 1839 as a textile manufacturing company in Massachusetts. When the company started facing financial difficulties in 1962, Warren Buffett began acquiring shares, eventually holding a controlling interest. Under Buffett’s leadership, Berkshire Hathaway began a strategy of aggressive acquisitions focused on insurance companies.

By the 1970s, Berkshire Hathaway had become a major holding company. In the following decades, Buffett and his team continued to make strategic investments in firms like Coca-Cola ($KO), American Express ($AXP), and Wells Fargo ($WFC), in addition to acquiring certain companies outright. Today, Berkshire Hathaway is considered to be one of the most successful and respected investment companies in the world.

Berkshire shares ($BRK.B) have continued their strong performance in recent years, with a five-year annualised return of about 15%.

Today, Berkshire Hathaway is one of the most valuable companies in the world, with a market cap of nearly $1 trillion.

Learn more about how to buy Berkshire Hathaway stock on the Stake platform, or dive into the early decades of the investing giant.

What is Warren Buffett’s investing strategy?

Warren Buffett is famous for being a value investor, a style he learned from his mentor Ben Graham. Value investors seek to buy shares when they are trading for less than their fundamental value, as determined by techniques like discounted cash flow and P/E ratio analysis. Buffett’s approach is captured in his famous quote: ‘Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.’

In recent years, Berkshire has been building up record amounts of cash, currently amounting to more than $300 billion.

In fact, Berkshire’s cash portfolio now exceeds the total value of the company’s stock portfolio. In Buffett’s 2023 shareholder letter, he intimated that Berkshire’s large cash position is preparation for potential economic turbulence. This attitude reflects another storied Buffett quote: ‘Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful.’

Although investors cannot track Buffett’s trades in real-time, the firm has to file public quarterly reports on the status of its investment portfolio (13F filings). This allows insight into Buffett’s moves, albeit with a brief delay.

The information in this article reflects Berkshire’s most recent filing with holdings as of 30 September 2024.

Here are the top 10 companies Warren Buffett is investing in

Data as of 14 February 2025. Source: Stake, Google Finance.

*The list of Warren Buffett stocks mentioned is ranked by percent of his portfolio as of Berkshire Hathaway’s latest form 13F filing.

Discover Warren Buffett's top stock portfolio picks

1. Apple Inc. ($AAPL)

Buffett is a long-time fan of Apple’s business and the company remains Berkshire’s biggest holding, comprising 26% of the firm’s portfolio.

In Buffett’s view, the quality of Apple’s products and the integration they have with customer’s daily lives is an outstanding competitive moat.

In 2022, Buffett described Apple as one of Berkshire’s ‘four giants’ driving portfolio performance. With that said, Buffett has made recent moves to reduce his Apple exposure, selling nearly two-thirds of Berkshire’s position in just over a year.[1]

Although Buffett does not appear to have soured on the company entirely, the sales could be a response to Apple’s strong share price appreciation in recent years.

2. Bank of America Corporation ($BAC)

Bank of America is Buffett’s third-largest holding, making up 12% of the Berkshire portfolio. This position stems from a 2011 investment that Buffett made in the midst of the U.S. debt ceiling crisis. Famously, Buffett first tried to reach Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan by phoning the bank’s general helpline.

Much like his Apple holdings, however, Buffett has been swiftly trimming his Bank of America position. While the market appears generally bullish on financial stocks at the moment, Buffett has already sold over $10 billion worth of Berkshire’s shares in the firm.

3. The Coca-Cola Company ($KO)

Buffett has been an investor in Coca-Cola since 1988 when he purchased more than $1 billion worth of shares, drawn in by the firm’s strong brand and management.

In Buffett’s own words from his shareholder letter that year, ‘[a]fter drifting somewhat in the 1970s, Coca-Cola had in 1981 become a new company with the move of Roberto Goizueta to CEO… What was already the world's most ubiquitous product gained new momentum.’[2]

Today, Coca-Cola accounts for 11% of Berkshire’s portfolio, with Buffett owning nearly 10% of the entire firm. Thanks to Coca-Cola’s attractive dividend growth, it seems unlikely for Buffett to sell his shares anytime soon.

4. Chevron Corporation ($CVX)

Buffett’s stake in Chevron dates back to late 2020. At the time, oil stocks were trading at discounts due to the Covid pandemic, making shares attractive to a value investor like Buffett.

Today, Chevron is Berkshire’s fifth largest holding.

Lately, Buffett has been trimming his position in Chevron, although at a slower pace than drawdowns in Apple and BofA. Still, Buffett continues to find the energy sector appealing. Despite reducing his Chevron stake, Buffett has been increasing Berkshire’s holdings of competitor Occidental Petroleum.

5. American Express Company ($AXP)

American Express is Berkshire’s second-largest position, comprising 15% of the firm’s total portfolio. The origins of this investment go back as far as 1964, making American Express one of the longest-held stocks in Buffett’s portfolio.

At the time of Buffett’s investment, markets were panicking about American Express’ exposure to a corporate scandal enacted by a rogue soybean oil trader. Taking advantage of the upheaval, Buffett was able to acquire his shares at a discount to their fundamental value, a trade which has paid off handsomely in the long run.

6. Chubb ($CB)

Buffett’s affinity for the insurance business is well-known, with Berkshire owning a diverse range of insurers in the company’s portfolio. Insurance companies carry significant assets on their books, and Buffett has famously used this ‘float’ to expand his own investment arsenal. 

One of Buffett’s most recent insurance trades is in Chubb, a position he confidentially built over the course of the past few years. Highlighting Buffett’s influence, Chubb shares soared 8% when Berkshire’s position was finally revealed.[3]

Chubb now accounts for 2.9% of Berkshire’s portfolio.

7. Moody's Corporation ($MCO)

Buffett first acquired a stake in Moody’s, the famous credit ratings agency, in 2000.

Over the years, Buffett has sold shares a few times, but the company remains a sizeable 4.4% of Berkshire’s total portfolio, the firm’s seventh-largest position. 

Although Buffett has declined to make many public comments about his investment in Moody’s, he is likely drawn to the company’s significant moat. As one of the three major ratings agencies (along with Standard & Poor’s and Fitch), Moody’s has few competitors and attractive profit margins.

8. Occidental Petroleum Corporation ($OXY)

Along with Chevron, Occidental represents one of Buffett’s biggest investments in the oil & gas sector. While his Chevron position remains larger overall, Buffett’s repeated purchases of Occidental shares have brought the firm to 4.9% of Berkshire’s total portfolio. 

Buffett’s investment in Occidental goes back to 2019, when Berkshire was able to back the company’s takeover of Anadarko Petroleum by purchasing a batch of preferred shares. Although Occidental’s stock has grown slowly in recent years, Buffett continues to support the firm’s management and has not reduced his stake so far.

9. The Kraft Heinz Company ($KHC)

Buffett’s stake in Kraft Heinz is the result of a 2013 investment in the company’s predecessor H.J. Heinz. Buffett made the deal alongside Brazilian private equity giant 3G Capital. While Buffett has retained his stake from this original deal, 3G has not, exiting its position in 2023. 

At the time, Buffett’s participation in the deal was considered unusual, deviating from his traditional criticism of the PE industry. While Kraft Heinz remains 4.3% of Berkshire’s portfolio, the stock has not performed well, and Buffett has been understandably reluctant to enter a similar deal again.

10. DaVita ($DVA)

DaVita is an American company in the grim but lucrative business of operating dialysis clinics. The firm runs one of the largest networks of dialysis centers in the U.S. in competition with rival Fresenius ($FMS). 

Buffett began building his stake in DaVita back in 2012. The company is now Berkshire’s tenth-largest position accounting for 2.2% of the firm’s portfolio. While Buffett hasn’t said much about this investment, he likely views the company’s market dominance and brand recognition favourably.

What stocks has Warren Buffett bought recently?

Buffett hasn’t been much of an active buyer recently, although Berkshire has made a few notable purchases. In December 2024, filings show that Berkshire bought shares in Verisign ($VRSN), Occidental Petroleum ($OXY), and Sirius XM ($SIRI).

What stocks has Warren Buffett sold recently?

Buffett has been actively trimming his stock positions over the past year. Berkshire recently sold Bank of America ($BAC), Apple ($AAPL), Charter Communications ($CHTR), Ulta Beauty ($ULTA), and Capital One ($COF).

How does Warren Buffett choose stocks?

Warren Buffett is known for his value investing approach, where he looks for undervalued companies with strong fundamentals and long-term growth potential. He typically focuses on businesses with a strong brand, a solid management team, and a consistent track record of earnings & cash flow. Buffett has also highlighted the importance of having a ‘moat’ - a business term for a sustainable competitive advantage that protects a company’s profits from competition.

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Article sources

[1] Berkshire halves Apple stake, boosts cash to $277 billion as it gets 'defensive’

[2] Chairman's Letter 1989 - Berkshire Hathaway

[3] Warren Buffett finally reveals the mysterious company he’s invested billions of dollars in