The most notable stocks Warren Buffett has bought and sold so far this year
Warren Buffett’s investment success has grown Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) cash pile to a record $276.9 billion in the second quarter of 2024, and (briefly) gave the Omaha-based conglomerate a $1 trillion market capitalization.
It’s no surprise, then, that people want to know what stocks the legendary 94-year-old investor, known as “the Oracle of Omaha,” is buying — and, just as important, what he’s getting rid of.
As of June 30, Berkshire’s top holdings are Apple (AAPL), Bank of America (BAC), American Express (AXP), Coca-Cola (KO), and Chevron (CVX). These are some of the biggest investing moves Buffett has made through his sprawling holding company so far this year.
Sold: Apple
Berkshire halved its stake in Apple in the second quarter, holding $84.2 billion in the company’s stock, down from the $174.3 billion it owned at the start of the year. The sale could cost Berkshire somewhere in the range of $15 billion in taxes this year.
Despite the selloff, Buffett has assured investors and followers that he’s in it for the long haul with Apple and some of his other major holdings.
“Unless something really extraordinary happens, we will own Apple, and American Express, and Coca-Cola when Greg takes over this place,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the annual Berkshire shareholder conference in May, referring to Greg Abel, his handpicked successor.
Sold: Bank of America
Buffett has sold 174.7 million shares of Bank of America, the second largest U.S. bank by assets, worth more than $7 billion since mid-July. The sale shrunk his stake in the bank to just over 11%, FactSet data shows. And even Bank of America chief Brian Moynihan says he doesn’t know why.
Sold: Paramount Global
Berkshire dumped all its holdings of Paramount, the troubled parent company of CBS (PARA), MTV, and Paramount Pictures, this year. As of Dec. 31, Berkshire held 63 million shares of Paramount valued at $816 million, according to a February Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Buffett said his position in Paramount lost him “quite a bit of money.”
Sold: Snowflake
Snowflake (SNOW) got a similar treatment in the second quarter: Berkshire disclosed that it unloaded its nearly $1 billion investment in the cloud data platform Snowflake as of the end of June.
Sold: Capital One
Buffett sold 2.6 million shares of Capital One (COF) in the second quarter, holding just shy of 10 million shares in the online bank as of June 30, worth almost $1.4 billion.
Sold: BYD
In July, Buffett continued to trim its stake in Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD (BYDDY), offloading 1.3 million for $39.8 million, according to filings with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Sold: T-Mobile
Berkshire slashed its stake in T-Mobile (TMUS) by nearly 11% in the second quarter. The conglomerate still owned nearly 4.7 million shares worth more than $823 million as of the end of June.
Bought: Occidental Petroleum
With court approval to acquire up to a 50% in Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Buffett boosted his holdings in the U.S. oil company to 29%, adding another 2.95 million shares in the second quarter. By the end of June, Berkshire had a 255.3 million stake in the firm.
Bought: Ulta Beauty
This year also marked Berkshire’s first foray into the beauty space. In the second quarter, Berkshire added cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty to its portfolio. As of June 30, the conglomerate holds 690,106 shares of Ulta worth roughly $266 million.
Bought: Chubb
After months of screcy, Berkshire revealed that it had purchased 25.9 million shares worth $6.72 billion of the company in a regulatory filing detailing Berkshire’s first-quarter investments. It added another 4.3% to its stake in the Zurich-based insurance company in the second quarter.
Bought: Heico
Aerospace company Hieco was another new addition to Berkshire’s portfolio last quarter, with a position of just over a million shares worth more than $185 million as of June 30.
Bought: Sirius XM
Berkshire added some 96 million shares of satellite radio provider Sirius XM (SIRI), holding nearly 133 million shares worth roughly $376 million at the end of June.