Warren Buffett's Successor, Greg Abel, Scooped Up Shares of These 4 Powerhouse Stocks in the Second Quarter

Few events are more exciting for investors than the quarterly filing of Form 13Fs with regulators. A 13F is a required filing for money managers overseeing at least $100 million in assets. Although 13F filings detailing second-quarter trading activity aren't due until Aug. 14, investors tracking Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA)(NYSE: BRKB) don't have to wait that long to determine which stocks Warren Buffett's successor, Greg Abel, has been buying.

Thanks to several other regulatory filings, we know that Abel scooped up shares of four powerhouse stocks in the second quarter: Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG), Mitsubishi (OTC: MTSUY), Marubeni (OTC: MARUY), and Sumitomo (OTC: SSUMY).

Warren Buffett's retirement means that Greg Abel now oversees Berkshire Hathaway's investment portfolio. Image source: The Motley Fool.

Buffett's protégé piled into a virtual monopoly

It's no secret that Google parent Alphabet is a favorite of Berkshire Hathaway's new boss. During the March-ended quarter, Berkshire's 13F shows that 36,403,656 Class A shares (GOOGL) and 3,585,215 Class C shares (GOOG) were purchased.

But on June 1, Alphabet announced plans to raise $80 billion (which it later upped to $84.75 billion) through an equity offering to fund its artificial intelligence (AI) data center build-out. Berkshire agreed to buy $10 billion ($5 billion of each share class) via a private placement. Although Berkshire hasn't confirmed that this private placement was completed, it likely closed before the end of the quarter.

Alphabet provides the sustainable moat that Berkshire's current and former bosses appreciate. Google holds a virtual monopoly on global internet search traffic, with a 91% share as of June 2026, according to GlobalStats. It's also the parent of streaming platform YouTube, the second-most-visited social site on the planet. Between Google and YouTube, Alphabet sports exceptional ad pricing power.

However, Alphabet's growth story is all about cloud infrastructure services platform, Google Cloud, and its integration of generative AI and large language model solutions. During the first quarter, Google Cloud's sales skyrocketed 63%, which is noteworthy given that cloud margins are considerably higher than ad margins.

Image source: Getty Images.

Abel's fascination with Japan's trading houses continues

Prior to Warren Buffett's retirement as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO, he penned an annual letter to shareholders where he outlined eight stocks that he believed were "indefinite" holdings. Among them were all five members of the sogo shosha (i.e., Japan's trading houses): Mitsubishi, Marubeni, Sumitomo, Itochu, and Mitsui.

Abel played an instrumental role in facilitating Berkshire's initial investments in the sogo shosha, which began in the summer of 2019 and were first made public in August 2020. Since Buffett's retirement, Abel has continued to hike his company's stake in these broad-reaching companies, with purchases of Mitsubishi, Marubeni, and Sumitomo reported by Japanese regulators between April 30 and May 12.

Arguably, the most attractive aspect of Japan's five trading houses is their valuations. Amid the backdrop of the second-priciest stock market in U.S. history, Mitsubishi, Marubeni, and Sumitomo are trading at 21, 15, and 13 times trailing 12-month earnings per share, respectively.

Furthermore, Japan's trading houses are known for robust capital-return programs, including dividends and share buybacks, as well as modest executive compensation packages. The shareholder-first, long-term ethos of the sogo shosha aligns with the philosophies of Warren Buffett and his successor.

Sean Williams has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.