Berkshire Hathaway's 3 Biggest Moves in Q1

Last quarter was a busy one for Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB)... busier than most. New CEO Greg Abel made a bunch of changes that predecessor Warren Buffett didn't seem so interested in making. Here's a rundown of the biggest three made in the first quarter.

1. Dumped all of Visa (and Mastercard)

Buffett was never wholeheartedly committed to it in the sense that Berkshire never held a major stake in the company. But, after first establishing a position in 2011, Abel opted to sell the entirety of the conglomerate's 8.3-million-share stake in credit card middleman Visa (NYSE: V) last quarter. Berkshire also dumped all of its holdings in Mastercard (NYSE: MA) during the first quarter of the year.

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Neither was a particularly big position for the company. Indeed, Mastercard and Visa each only accounted for about 1% of Berkshire's entire portfolio of stocks. Still, it's a message about how Abel feels about certain aspects of the credit card business right now.

Although the company dumped Visa and Mastercard, Berkshire's position in American Express (NYSE: AXP) remained untouched in Q1. It's now the conglomerate's second-biggest holding, worth a whopping $47 billion.

2. Bought a somewhat meaningful stake in Delta

Buffett overwhelmingly gave up on airlines in early 2020, selling all of $4 billion worth of positions in several of the major names in the business after the COVID-19 pandemic posed a threat that could have lasted a while. That threat eventually abated, of course, but Berkshire never stepped back in -- a seemingly smart decision given airlines' uncertain performances in the meantime (and for the foreseeable future).

Abel seems willing to take risks that Buffett wasn't, however. Last quarter, Berkshire scooped up 39.8 million then-beaten-down shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), now worth $2.8 billion.

That's still not a huge position -- it's only about 1% of the company's total portfolio value. It's not been a bad bet so far, though. The stock's up since the March pullback prompted by the military conflict in the Middle East. Berkshire could certainly add to this position in the future, as is often the case.

3. Tripled its stake in Alphabet

Finally, although Warren Buffett was never a big fan of technology stocks (he said he didn't understand them well enough), Abel and his lieutenants aren't afraid. Berkshire was already sitting on a small position in Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) as of late last year. During Q1 2026, Berkshire tripled its stake in the company's A shares to 54.2 billion. That stake is now worth $23 billion, making it Berkshire's seventh-biggest holding. Berkshire also scooped up 3.6 million C shares of Google's parent company, worth roughly $1 billion.

It's not exactly worth detailing, since most of these positions were pointlessly small. But Berkshire Hathaway also completely exited 16 positions that served little to no meaningful purpose and/or had little net effect on the stock portfolio's value. Some of these exits include recently purchased Pool Corp, UnitedHealth, and Amazon. Abel may simply be trying to clean out some of the potentially distracting holdings so his management team can focus on the trades that truly matter.

American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. James Brumley has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, American Express, Berkshire Hathaway, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Delta Air Lines, Pool, and UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.