Breaking down the stocks Greg Abel (Berkshire Hathaway) bought, sold, and held in Q1 2025, including their holdings at the end of the quarter. All data sourced from Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filed on May 15, 2025.
Who are Warren Buffett, Greg Abel and Berkshire Hathaway?
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is led by Warren Buffett (Chairman and CEO), with Greg Abel (transitioning to CEO at the end of the year), and profoundly influenced by the late Charlie Munger (former Vice Chairman). The company is known for its diversified equity portfolio, typically consisting of around 45 stocks, with the top 5 holdings comprising approximately 70% of equity assets, and massive cash reserves for opportunistic deployments during market dislocations.
Their investment strategy is a classic value investing approach inspired by Benjamin Graham's principles of margin of safety and evolved through Munger's emphasis on acquiring wonderful businesses at fair prices, treating equities as ownership stakes in enduring enterprises rather than tradable securities. They focus on undervalued or high-quality companies across industries that can compound intrinsic value over decades, with strong qualitative factors like durable economic moats, high returns on capital, honest and capable management, predictable cash flows, and ample reinvestment opportunities in growing markets.
Berkshire Hathaway's Website https://www.berkshirehathaway.com
Holdings in Q1 2025
| Ticker | Company | Weight | Change | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | Apple | 25.7% | $66.64B | |
| AXP | American Express | 15.7% | $40.79B | |
| KO | Coca-Cola | 11.0% | $28.65B | |
| BAC | Bank of America | 10.1% | Trimmed (-7%) | $26.36B |
| CVX | Chevron | 7.6% | $19.84B | |
| OXY | Occidental | 5.0% | Added (+0%) | $13.08B |
| MCO | Moody's | 4.4% | $11.49B | |
| KHC | Kraft Heinz | 3.8% | $9.91B | |
| CB | Chubb | 3.1% | $8.16B | |
| DVA | DaVita | 2.1% | Trimmed (-3%) | $5.38B |
| KR | Kroger | 1.3% | $3.38B | |
| VRSN | Verisign | 1.3% | Added (+0%) | $3.37B |
| V | Visa | 1.1% | $2.91B | |
| SIRI | SiriusXM | 1.0% | Added (+2%) | $2.7B |
| STZ | Constellation Brands | 0.8% | Added (+114%) | $2.2B |
| MA | Mastercard | 0.8% | $2.19B | |
| AMZN | Amazon | 0.7% | $1.9B | |
| AON | Aon | 0.6% | $1.64B | |
| COF | Capital One | 0.5% | Trimmed (-4%) | $1.28B |
| DPZ | Domino's Pizza | 0.5% | Added (+10%) | $1.2B |
| ALLY | Ally | 0.4% | $1.06B | |
| TMUS | T-Mobile | 0.4% | Trimmed (-11%) | $1.04B |
| LLYVK | Liberty Media | 0.3% | $743.93M | |
| CHTR | Charter Communications | 0.3% | Trimmed (-0%) | $731.26M |
| NUE | Nucor | 0.3% | NEW | $692.74M |
| LPX | Louisiana Pacific | 0.2% | $521.05M | |
| POOL | Pool | 0.2% | Added (+145%) | $466.06M |
| LLYVA | Liberty Media | 0.1% | $335.3M | |
| FWONK | Liberty Media | 0.1% | Trimmed (-48%) | $316.12M |
| HEI-A | Heico | 0.1% | Added (+11%) | $245.17M |
| LEN | Lennar | 0.1% | $221.52M | |
| DHI | D.R. Horton | 0.1% | NEW | $192.27M |
| NVR | NVR | 0.0% | $80.5M | |
| DEO | Diageo | 0.0% | $23.87M | |
| JEF | Jefferies Financial Group | 0.0% | $23.23M | |
| LEN-B | Lennar | 0.0% | Trimmed (-100%) | $22.03K |
| C | Citigroup | 0.0% | Exited | $-1.03B |
| NU | Nu Holdings | 0.0% | Exited | $-416.27M |
Current Investment Strategy
Berkshire Hathaway's cash reserve hit a record $347 billion in Q1 2025, reflecting a cautious yet opportunistic stance as the conglomerate fully exited Citigroup and Nu Holdings while significantly increasing stakes in Occidental Petroleum, Constellation Brands, Domino's Pizza, Pool Corp, HEICO, Sirius XM, and VeriSign, and maintaining concentrated exposure to core defensive holdings like Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Chevron, Moody's, Kraft Heinz, Chubb, Kroger, and Amazon. The legendary value investor's strategy emphasized controlled businesses, cash reserves, and defensive equities ahead of his planned retirement at year-end, with his reduced stake in Bank of America underscoring a broader retreat from the financial sector while recession-resistant giants and Japanese equity plays in Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo positioned the portfolio for macroeconomic uncertainty.
New Investments
Nucor NUE
Greg Abel bought $692.74M of Nucor in Q1 2025. Nucor demonstrated strong operational execution in Q3 2025, delivering net earnings of $607 million and EPS of $2.63, representing a 143% increase compared to Q3 2024's $250 million and marking a 22% earnings surprise versus analyst expectations. The company is expanding downstream and steel-adjacent businesses while maintaining the strongest balance sheet in North American steel with $2.75 billion in cash and a 24% debt-to-capitalization ratio. Recent capital investments in bar mills, sheet steel production, and pole production facilities are positioned to drive long-term growth, with Moody's recent upgrade to A3 reflecting improved creditworthiness and market confidence.
- Net earnings increased 143% year-over-year from Q3 2024 ($250 million to $607 million) with EPS growing 150% ($1.05 to $2.63).
- Q3 delivered a 22.33% earnings surprise and 4.39% revenue beat at $8.52 billion, with stock price rising 5.26% following announcement.
- Operating cash flow of $1.3 billion in Q3 with company returning ~$1 billion to shareholders YTD, representing over 70% of net earnings.
D.R. Horton DHI
Greg Abel bought $192.27M of D.R. Horton in Q1 2025. D.R. Horton demonstrated mixed operational performance in Q3 2025, beating revenue expectations at $9.68 billion but missing on EPS ($3.04 vs. $3.29 estimate) as operating margins compressed 430 basis points year-over-year to 11.6%, reflecting affordability pressures that resulted in flat net sales orders and a 13.6% year-over-year backlog decline. The company responded with operational discipline, achieving a 5% sequential order increase in Q4 and generating $3.44 billion in full-year operating cash flow while reducing share count by 9% through $4.3 billion in repurchases. However, FY2026 guidance of $33.5-35 billion trails analyst consensus expectations of $34.9 billion, signaling continued market headwinds.
- Operating margin compressed to 11.6% in Q3, down 430 basis points year-over-year from 15.9%.
- Full-year operating cash flow totaled $3.44 billion (10% of revenues) with 9% share count reduction through $4.3 billion in buybacks.
- Q4 net sales orders increased 5% sequentially, but FY2026 guidance trails consensus by approximately $1.4 billion.
Added, Trimmed, and Exited
Added
Greg Abel added to positions in Constellation Brands (STZ) (+113.5% position increase), Pool (POOL) (+144.5% position increase), Domino's Pizza (DPZ) (+10% position increase), Heico (HEI-A) (+10.7% position increase), and Verisign (VRSN) (+0.1% position increase), while making modest additions to SiriusXM (SIRI) and Occidental (OXY).
What it means: The dramatic increases in Constellation Brands and Pool represent significant conviction adds to existing positions, suggesting Berkshire Hathaway views these consumer-focused businesses as increasingly attractive. The Constellation Brands addition is particularly notable given ongoing beer market share challenges, indicating confidence in the company's premium positioning and long-term pricing power. The Pool increase suggests optimism about a cyclical recovery in swimming pool maintenance and construction spending. Meanwhile, the measured additions to Domino's Pizza, Heico, and Verisign reflect portfolio optimization rather than major strategic shifts, while the minimal adjustments to Occidental align with maintaining exposure to energy at current levels.
Trimmed
Greg Abel reduced Bank of America (BAC) by 48.7 million shares (7.2% reduction), Liberty Media (FWONK) by 48.4% of the position, and made smaller trims to Capital One (COF), DaVita (DVA), T-Mobile (TMUS), Charter Communications (CHTR), and nearly eliminated Lennar (LEN-B) shares while maintaining the Class A position.
What it means: The continued trimming of Bank of America—Berkshire's second-largest holding—signals ongoing portfolio rebalancing and potential concerns about the banking sector's near-term prospects amid uncertain credit conditions and regulatory pressures. The dramatic 48% reduction in Liberty Media (FWONK) amid a -49.84% return suggests cutting losses on a deteriorating position, likely related to challenges in the Formula One and live entertainment businesses. The near-complete exit from Lennar (LEN-B) shares while maintaining the larger Lennar (LEN) Class A position appears to be a share class consolidation rather than a fundamental view change. These defensive trims, combined with the financial sector reductions in Capital One, suggest a more cautious stance on consumer credit exposure.
Exited
Greg Abel completely exited positions in Citigroup (C) (previously valued at $1.03B) and Nu Holdings (NU) (previously valued at $416.3M).
What it means: The complete exit from Citigroup marks a definitive end to Berkshire's relationship with the banking giant, likely reflecting concerns about the bank's ongoing operational restructuring, regulatory capital requirements, and uncertain turnaround timeline under CEO Jane Fraser. The Nu Holdings exit is particularly notable as it represents a reversal on a relatively recent fintech investment in Latin American digital banking—suggesting either profit-taking after strong performance or reassessment of the competitive dynamics and regulatory risks in emerging market fintech. Combined, these exits freed up approximately $1.45 billion in capital, which was partially redeployed into new industrial and homebuilding positions (Nucor and D.R. Horton), signaling a strategic pivot away from financials toward cyclical industrials and real assets.
Disclaimer: All posts are for informational purposes only. They are NOT a recommendation to buy or sell the securities discussed. Please do your own research and due diligence before investing your money.
