Greg Abel's first full-quarter 13F as Berkshire Hathaway's chief executive landed on May 15, 2026, and it is the cleanest rebuild of the firm's public equity book in years. As of Saturday, May 23, 2026, the filing remains the freshest signal of how the new Berkshire is being built. The filing covers the quarter ending March 31, 2026, and shows the portfolio contracting from forty positions to twenty-six, with Visa, Mastercard, UnitedHealth, and Amazon walking out the door while Delta Air Lines walks in. For traders watching US stocks into the Memorial Day week, this is one of the most useful read-throughs of large-cap positioning available right now.

TL;DR

  • Berkshire Hathaway's Q1 2026 13F cut the portfolio from 40 names to 26 and trimmed total value from roughly $274 billion to $263 billion.
  • New positions: Delta Air Lines (DAL) at about $2.65 billion, Macy's (M), Lennar (LEN and LENB), and Alphabet Class C (GOOG).
  • Major exits: Visa (V) at about $2.91 billion, Mastercard (MA) at about $2.28 billion, UnitedHealth (UNH) at about $1.66 billion, Domino's (DPZ), Aon (AON), Pool Corp (POOL), and Amazon (AMZN).
  • Largest add: Alphabet Class A (GOOGL) lifted roughly 204 percent, taking total Alphabet exposure near $16.6 billion.
  • Cash balance hit a record near $397 billion. Buybacks restarted with $235 million repurchased in Q1.

What happened in the Q1 2026 13F

This is Greg Abel's first full quarter of stewardship after taking over from Warren Buffett on January 1, 2026. The 13F shows a portfolio that is smaller, more concentrated, and more openly tilted toward platform technology and select cyclicals.

The top five holdings now make up roughly 68 percent of the book, with Apple (AAPL) alone close to 22 percent, followed by American Express (AXP), Coca-Cola (KO), Bank of America (BAC), and Chevron (CVX). Around that core, Abel made a series of deliberate moves rather than a single concentrated bet.

New positions started this quarter include Delta Air Lines (DAL) at about $2.65 billion (around 39.8 million shares), Macy's (M) at roughly 3 million shares, Lennar (LEN and LENB), and Alphabet Class C (GOOG). The 13F also shows a sharp expansion in existing positions: Alphabet Class A (GOOGL) lifted around 204 percent to about 54.2 million shares, New York Times (NYT) nearly tripled, and Lennar's stake expanded by 43 percent.

On the sell side, Berkshire exited Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), UnitedHealth (UNH), Domino's Pizza (DPZ), Aon (AON), Pool Corp (POOL), and Amazon (AMZN), among others. This marks the fourteenth straight quarter of net equity sales for the firm, with cumulative net selling above $195 billion. Cash and short-term holdings climbed to roughly $397 billion, the highest balance on record.

Why this Berkshire 13F matters for US stocks

13F filings are backward-looking by design. They only confirm what was held at quarter-end, not what is held today. Even so, the size of Berkshire's book, the visibility of its leadership change, and the consistency of its disclosure history mean these filings move sentiment and shape the narrative around mega-cap value, financial services, and cyclicals.

The pattern in Q1 is clean. Network-fee payment rails got cut. Healthcare exposure got trimmed. Cash kept stacking. At the same time, capital was redeployed into a platform AI name (Alphabet), a US homebuilder (Lennar), a battered US airline (Delta), and a low-multiple discretionary turnaround (Macy's). That is a different mix from the late-Buffett era, which leaned more heavily into network-effect payments and selective consumer staples.

For active traders, the read-through is less "follow the trade" and more "calibrate the regime." Berkshire is signaling that it sees better risk-adjusted reward in companies with hard assets, durable cash flows tied to the real economy, and one selective AI platform bet, rather than in scaled card networks or managed-care insurers at current multiples.

What it means for impacted trader groups

Equity traders should expect renewed scrutiny of payment-network valuations. Visa and Mastercard remain dominant businesses, but the exit of a Berkshire-sized holder removes a long-standing prestige anchor from those tapes. Expect volatility around any future earnings guidance, regulatory headlines, or stablecoin policy developments to be sharper while sentiment resets.

Index and futures traders should note the cash signal. Roughly $397 billion in dry powder at Berkshire is a real-economy statement about valuation discipline. It does not predict the next index move, but it raises the bar for any broad-market thesis built on "every dip is bought by everyone." When the most patient capital in US equities is patient, breadth quality matters more.

Sector traders watching airlines, homebuilders, and US retail should pay attention to the new DAL, LEN, and Macy's positions. They suggest Abel is willing to underwrite cyclicals with operational discipline and balance-sheet improvements, even in sectors that have been left for dead by parts of the market. Pair trades and relative-value setups against weaker peers in each group become more interesting on confirmation, not on headline.

Potential positives vs negatives

Potential positives

  • A clearer, more concentrated Berkshire book is easier for the market to handicap, which can reduce uncertainty premia in the names it now holds.
  • Alphabet's elevation to a much larger stake validates the "AI platform" framing for one of the cleanest US mega-cap tech balance sheets.
  • Record cash plus restarted buybacks reduce downside risk for Berkshire shareholders and signal disciplined capital allocation under Abel.
  • New Delta, Lennar, and Macy's positions point to selective conviction in US cyclicals, which can support breadth themes if the macro path stays soft-landing.

Potential negatives

  • Full exits from Visa, Mastercard, and UnitedHealth remove a powerful sentiment buyer from three large-cap names, which can pressure multiples in the short term.
  • A $397 billion cash pile is also a tacit warning that Berkshire does not see broad bargains in US equities at current levels.
  • Adding Delta Air Lines right as fuel costs swing on Middle East developments increases tail risk if oil reaccelerates above recent ranges.
  • Concentration of the top five names near 68 percent of the book raises single-name event risk for any Berkshire-tracking strategy.

What could happen from here

Base case

The market treats the filing as a portfolio refresh rather than a regime call. Visa, Mastercard, and UnitedHealth see modest pressure that fades within a few sessions. Alphabet, Delta, Lennar, and Macy's get a "Berkshire premium" that lifts them above peers for a week or two, then normalizes. Berkshire's record cash supports a stable share price even if broad indices chop.

Confirm: peer-relative outperformance in the new holdings holds for 2 to 3 weeks without major company-specific news.

Invalidate: a sharp macro catalyst pulls cyclicals lower together, washing out the relative bid.

Upside case

Abel's signal is interpreted as a credible "value plus selective AI" framework. Capital rotates into Alphabet, US homebuilders, and quality airlines. Cash deployment becomes the next narrative, with traders front-running a possible large Berkshire acquisition or further sizeable additions in Q2.

Confirm: follow-on flow into LEN, DAL, GOOGL, and quality US large caps with strong free cash flow; clearer macro signal supporting cyclicals.

Invalidate: Berkshire stays net seller of equities again in Q2, holding cash above $400 billion without new conviction adds.

Downside case

The exits dominate the narrative. Visa, Mastercard, and UnitedHealth lead a broader payment and managed-care derate. Energy and rates surprise to the upside on geopolitical developments, hurting Delta. Cash hoarding is read as a defensive call that pulls broad multiples lower.

Confirm: payment networks underperform the S&P 500 for several sessions; airlines crack on a fresh fuel-cost shock; Berkshire's cash narrative dominates business media.

Invalidate: payment-network exits are absorbed by other large holders within days, with stable multiples and no follow-on selling.

What traders should watch next

  • Price action in V, MA, and UNH in the first full sessions after the Memorial Day holiday. Watch volume on any retest of recent lows.
  • Follow-through in GOOGL relative to other mega-cap AI names, especially around any new Alphabet AI product or enterprise updates.
  • Delta Air Lines and the broader airline group versus crude oil. A reacceleration in WTI above recent ranges would test the new Berkshire stake.
  • Lennar and large US homebuilders into housing data and any rate-path commentary from new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and the FOMC.
  • Berkshire's own share price and any commentary on cash deployment or further buybacks, both of which are now under Abel's signature.

FAQ

Why did Greg Abel exit Visa and Mastercard? Berkshire did not publicly explain the moves. The filing only shows the positions are gone. Possible drivers include valuation discipline at current multiples, the leadership transition's focus on simplifying the book, and a desire to redeploy capital into other risk-reward setups. Traders should not assume a specific thesis without further commentary from Berkshire.

Should I just copy the new Berkshire holdings? 13F data is at least 45 days old by the time it is published, so it is a positioning signal rather than a trade signal. Use it to calibrate where one of the most disciplined US large-cap allocators sees value, then test the ideas against your own process, risk tolerance, and time horizon. Education tools, not autopilots.

Sources

This article is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Markets carry risk, and past portfolio activity is not a forecast of future performance.

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