Berkshire Hathaway Bought 7 Stocks in Its First Quarter Without Warren Buffett as CEO: Here's the Best of the Bunch.

The wait is over. Anyone wondering which stocks new Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB) CEO Greg Abel would buy in the company's first quarter without Warren Buffett as CEO now has an answer. Actually, they have seven answers.

Berkshire Hathaway submitted its 13F regulatory filing for the first quarter of 2026 after the market closed on May 15. The conglomerate bought seven stocks during Abel's initial quarter at the helm. And one of them stands out as the best of the bunch.

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Berkshire's lucky seven

Four of Berkshire Hathaway's six purchases in Q1 added shares to existing positions. The biggest of these was increasing the stake in Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (specifically, the Class A shares) by 204%.

Berkshire nearly tripled its position in The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT). The conglomerate also added to its holdings of the Class A and Class B shares of homebuilder Lennar (NYSE: LEN) (NYSE: LENB).

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) ranks as Berkshire's largest new holding. Abel authorized the purchase of 39.8 million shares of the airline stock, with the position valued at $2.6 billion at the end of Q1. Berkshire also bought 3 million shares of Macy's (NYSE: M).

In what was perhaps a twist, Berkshire Hathaway initiated a new position in Alphabet's Class C shares in addition to scooping up more Class A shares. After Alphabet's recent gains, the tech giant now ranks as Berkshire's fifth-largest holding.

Analyzing the picks

Importantly, Buffett is still actively involved with Berkshire's investing. He acknowledged in an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick earlier this year that he's still making investments, noting that he "won't make any that Greg thinks are wrong."

Buffett remains a value investor at heart. Unsurprisingly, some of the stocks Berkshire bought in Q1 traded at valuations many would view as attractive. Macy's is the best example, with the retail stock still trading at around nine times forward earnings. Berkshire also took advantage of an opportunity to scoop up shares of Delta Air Lines in Q1, almost certainly when the stock was beaten down over worries about rising fuel costs resulting from the Iran war.

Lennar is also relatively inexpensive, with a forward earnings multiple of 14.4 today. We don't know the exact timing of Berkshire's Q1 trades, but purchases later in the quarter seem likely after the stock sank because of weaker demand from U.S. homebuyers and rising input costs. Abel and Buffett, though, no doubt understand that Lennar's long-term prospects remain solid.

Buffett could have influenced Berkshire's buys of both classes of Alphabet's shares. He has long regretted not initiating a position in the stock years ago. Although the legendary investor might not view Alphabet's cloud business as in his wheelhouse, he recognizes a strong moat when he sees one.

What about the significant increase in Berkshire's stake in The New York Times Company? Perhaps the best explanation of this purchase is that the media company's digital initiatives continue to pay off. For example, The New York Times Company reported in February that its digital advertising revenue soared 24.9% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The best of the bunch

Berkshire Hathaway's stock buys in Q1 make sense. However, if I had to pick the best of the bunch, it would be Alphabet. You can flip a coin on whether the company's Class A or Class C shares get top billing.

Alphabet is well-positioned to profit from nearly every major technology trend shaping the future. It's a leader in artificial intelligence (AI). Google Cloud is the fastest-growing of the top three cloud service providers. Google Gemini is one of the most powerful AI models. The company's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) are in such strong demand that Alphabet is now selling them to external customers.

Waymo is at the head of the pack in the autonomous ride-hailing market. Google Quantum AI is in the thick of the race to develop powerful quantum computers. Alphabet's Verily is using technology to improve healthcare. Its Calico unit is at the forefront of expanding human longevity.

To be sure, Alphabet isn't nearly as cheap as most of the other stocks Berkshire bought in Q1. But from a future-oriented standpoint, I think it's clearly the best of the bunch.

Keith Speights has positions in Alphabet and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Berkshire Hathaway, Lennar, and The New York Times Co. The Motley Fool recommends Delta Air Lines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.