Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has made a significant move by acquiring a $4.3 billion stake in Alphabet, the parent company of Google. This investment represents a notable shift for the conglomerate, as it marks one of the final new stock positions that Buffett may establish before his retirement at the end of this year. The newfound stake in Alphabet now stands as Berkshire’s tenth-largest stock holding.
Buffett’s decision to invest in Alphabet is somewhat at odds with his traditional investment strategy, which favors long-term, buy-and-hold value stocks over high-growth companies. In a parallel development, Buffett has recently sold approximately $11 billion worth of Apple shares during the third quarter of the year, continuing a trend of trimming one of his most profitable investments for the second consecutive quarter. Specifically, Berkshire offloaded around 42 million Apple shares between June and September, reducing its position’s value to approximately $61 billion at the third quarter’s end. Despite these sales, Apple remains Berkshire’s largest stock position.
Buffett’s strategic divestment from Apple saw him selling more than two-thirds of his stake between 2023 and 2024. These sales allowed him to capitalize on substantial profits from an investment he initiated in 2016. In a letter to investors on Monday, he announced his intention to “go quiet” and retire from his role as chief executive, stepping back from daily responsibilities at the conglomerate built over decades.
Aside from Apple and Alphabet, Berkshire’s major stock holdings are not in large technology companies. The conglomerate’s other significant positions remain mostly unchanged and include American Express, Bank of America, and Coca-Cola. Despite investing in Alphabet, Berkshire has continued its trend as a net seller of stocks for the third consecutive year, shedding over $6 billion in equity investments during the third quarter. In total, over the past three years, Berkshire has sold around $184 billion in stock.
Buffett’s newfound confidence in Alphabet reflects a turnaround in Google’s position within the competitive landscape of artificial intelligence. Over the past year, Google has witnessed an evolution in its AI capabilities, particularly following initial setbacks when it struggled to keep pace with the rapid rise of innovations such as ChatGPT introduced in late 2022. Early attempts to launch a rival chatbot did not perform as expected, leading to concerns over its core business in search advertising.
However, this year has seen Google make substantial advancements in its AI technologies. Moreover, its primary search business has shown more resilience than many on Wall Street anticipated, with Alphabet achieving record total revenues of $100 billion in the most recent quarter.
As of Friday’s close, Apple’s stock price had experienced a 12 percent increase this year, whereas Alphabet’s share price surged 45 percent, making it the top-performing Big Tech stock thus far in 2025, even outpacing AI chipmaker Nvidia.
