3 Stocks That Warren Buffett's Successor, Greg Abel, Bought (Besides Alphabet). Should You?

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB) is shuffling its portfolio again. The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate filed its second-quarter 13F form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, detailing the company's huge stock portfolio and changes made since the first quarter.

Chief Executive Officer Greg Abel, who took over from the legendary Warren Buffett at the beginning of the year, was an active buyer, increasing the portfolio's size from $263 billion to $299 billion. Abel is getting the most attention for his purchase of Alphabet stock, which is now the third-largest position in the company's portfolio. He increased the size of its holdings in the company by 83%, bringing its stake to more than $36 billion.

However, I'm also intrigued by some of his smaller stock purchases. Here are three companies that Berkshire bought last quarter -- not including Alphabet.

Berkshire Hathaway has bought more shares in Lennar, a homebuilder. Image source: Getty Images.

No. 1: Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) is one of the biggest airlines in the world, serving 290 destinations and operating about 5,000 flights per day. When you add Delta's partner network, the airline can get you to more than 700 destinations in 130 countries and territories.

Operating an airline can be a tough business when you factor in jet fuel costs, competition from low-fare operators, and the overhead of purchasing and maintaining a fleet of aircraft. Operating revenue was $19.8 billion in the quarter, up 19% from a year ago.

But expenses grew even faster. Fuel costs jumped 67%, and refinery expenses were up 89%. Overall, Delta reported operating expense of $17.9 billion, up 25% from a year ago. That led to net income falling 25% year over year to $1.6 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway initiated a stake in Delta in the first quarter and increased it by 44% in the second quarter. The conglomerate now owns 8.7% of the airline, with 57.3 million shares representing a stake of about $5 billion in Delta stock.

No. 2: Lennar

Lennar (NYSE: LEN) is a home construction and real estate company and one of the nation's largest homebuilders. The company delivered just over 20,500 homes in the second quarter, near the midpoint of its forecast, with an average sale price of $371,000.

However, revenue from home sales fell 2% in the quarter to $7.6 billion, with housing prices falling by an average of 5% from last year. Gross margin was 15.6%, down from 17.8% year over year, and operating earnings for the company's financial services segment fell from $157 million to $100 million.

The company is in the process of making over its business, moving from a capital-heavy land developer to a land-light strategy built on land-option platforms and option agreements. Lennar has said the change will make it more efficient, freeing up capital and improving returns on inventory and equity over the long term.

Abel apparently sees it as a good value. Berkshire increased its stake in Lennar Class B shares by 43% in the quarter, and the conglomerate now holds 13.4 million shares of its Class A and Class B stock that represents a combined stake of almost $1.2 billion.

No. 3: The New York Times Company

Berkshire used to be big into the newspaper business, operating a chain of daily papers under the Berkshire Hathaway Media Group. Buffett once said that he liked that daily newspapers essentially held monopolies in the communities they served by providing news, supermarket ads, and job listings.

All that changed with the internet, however, and Berkshire sold its last newspapers in 2020. Buffett declared that the industry was "toast."

But there are always exceptions, and one of those is The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT). Berkshire opened a position in the company in the fourth quarter of 2025 and has been adding to it steadily. Abel tripled Berkshire's position in the first quarter this year, and in the second quarter, he increased the conglomerate's stake again, by 4%.

The news company has transitioned to a digital model, with digital-only subscriptions up 16.4% from a year ago and digital ad revenue up 20.7%. Overall, the company has 13.4 million subscribers, of which 12.8 million are digital-only.

Total revenue was $762.5 million in the quarter, up 11%, and adjusted operating profit was $155.3 million, up 20% from last year. Berkshire Hathaway now owns 15.7 million shares of New York Times stock, or 9.8% of the company, and its stake is valued at a little more than $1 billion.

Patrick Sanders has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.