Willing and Abel: Berkshire's New CEO Makes Huge Portfolio Changes in Q1

Summary

It only takes one look at Berkshire Hathaway’s NYSE: BRK.B latest 13F filing to know that someone new is in charge. Warren Buffett retired as CEO at the end of 2025, and Greg Abel succeeded him. Saying that Abel turned over Berkshire’s portfolio in Q1 2026 may be an understatement. In reality, “consolidated” may be a better fit. In Q1, Berkshire completely sold out of over 15 positions and added just a few new ones. Overall, the number of total holdings fell from 42 to 29, creating a significantly more focused portfolio. These are the biggest moves from Berkshire Hathaway's Q1 2026 13F filing.Get Berkshire Hathaway alerts:Sign Up Behemoths Go to Zero: Berkshire Exits Several Mega-CapsNotably, the world’s two largest players in the payments industry lost their spot in Berkshire’s portfolio. Visa NYSE: V and Mastercard NYSE: MA, each of which Berkshire previously had +$2 billion positions in, saw their shares held fall to zero. This comes at a time when fears around how agentic AI commerce could affect traditional payment platforms have hurt both stocks. Still, it is difficult to say that Berkshire decided to sell Visa and Mastercard based on this, given Berkshire’s very low exposure to the AI investment theme. Further pushing back on this idea is the fact that the position in American Express NYSE: AXP remains unchanged. UnitedHealth Group NYSE: UNH, the world’s largest health insurance company, also went to zero. This is somewhat odd, as Berkshire made headlines by investing in the company just three quarters ago. It is completely possible that Berkshire exited this position at a loss, with UNH shares down 11% from the end of Q2 2025 to the end of Q1 2026. Given the quick sale, it is interesting to consider whether Abel disagreed with the initial investment. The other most notable sale was clear: Amazon.com NASDAQ: AMZN. This seems to be an extension of what happened in the previous quarter, as Berkshire likely sees another Magnificent Seven firm as better positione...