Berkshire Hathaway added roughly $17 billion to its stake in Google parent Alphabet during the second quarter, making the tech company the third-largest position in its equity portfolio. According to CNBC, Berkshire's second-quarter SEC filing shows it owns close to 106 million shares across Alphabet's Class A and Class C categories, with a combined market value of around $36.6 billion. That ranks Alphabet above Coca-Cola ($35.1 billion) but still well short of American Express at $51.9 billion and the top holding, Apple, at $69.7 billion.
Berkshire added 48.1 million Alphabet shares during the quarter, according to CNBC. Of the newly acquired shares, approximately 60% — representing roughly $10 billion — were obtained directly from Alphabet through a private placement deal the two companies disclosed in early June, with the balance acquired through open-market purchases. Berkshire also expanded its Delta Air Lines bet considerably, lifting that stake by 44% — an outlay of roughly $1.6 billion — to reach 57.3 million shares now worth about $5.1 billion.
The airline first returned to Berkshire's portfolio in the first quarter of this year; Berkshire had sold its airline holdings at a loss in early 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic reduced air travel. On a smaller scale, Berkshire lifted its Macy's holdings by 142%, though the modest base size means that translates to only about $100 million in new exposure, while it also put roughly $280 million more into homebuilder Lennar. On the sell side, Berkshire trimmed its Bank of America position by 5.9%, reducing the value of that holding by approximately $1.7 billion — the largest dollar cut of the quarter.
The cumulative effect of that sustained selling — now spanning eight straight quarters — is a 53% reduction in Berkshire's overall Bank of America stake. The company also cut its Capital One Financial stake by 58% and trimmed its Ally Financial holdings by 7%. Alphabet's entry into Berkshire's top holdings follows the company's $85 billion equity raise earlier this year, which Alphabet pursued to fund its artificial intelligence expansion.
That offering helped push U.S. equity issuance to a record $251 billion in the first half of 2026, according to Bloomberg data. Berkshire held approximately $365.5 billion in cash as of June 30, down 8% from March 31.
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