Berkshire pads Delta, Alphabet stakes as Abel taps cash pile

Key Points:

• In the second quarter under CEO Abel, Berkshire Hathaway increased its Delta Air Lines stake by 17.5 million shares, valuing it at $5.37 billion, and boosted its Alphabet holding by 48.1 million shares to $37.8 billion, making Alphabet its third-largest investment.
• Berkshire repurchased about $4.5 billion of its own stock and added nearly $20 billion in other equities, with cash reserves decreasing from $397 billion to $365.5 billion by midyear.
• Abel executed significant deals, including a $6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison and a $10 billion investment in Alphabet’s AI initiatives, marking a shift toward new sectors for the conglomerate.
• The company also increased its stake in homebuilder Lennar to approximately $1.21 billion and reduced its holding in Bank of America to 6.8%.
• Separately, the Gates Foundation sold nearly 2.4 million Berkshire Class B shares, lowering its stake to $7.35 billion amid scrutiny of Bill Gates’ associations, with Buffett signaling no further planned donations to the foundation.