Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway buys Google stock for first time

Warren Buffett is tech’s most famous skeptic. So when a quarterly securities filing revealed late Friday that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has taken a first-ever, multibillion stake in Alphabet, the parent company of Google, investors sat up and took notice. Shares of Alphabet rose about 5% heading into Monday’s market open.

The new Berkshire position became public following an almost 50% rally in Google stock so far this year — all the more surprising because Berkshire’s investor team is well known for waiting until stock prices look cheap. Even as Berkshire has, over the last decade, placed similar bets on Apple and Amazon, the decision still carries outsize weight. Given Buffett’s long-standing aversion to richly valued growth stocks, not to mention his reputation for caution near market peaks, Berkshire’s vote of confidence suggests that Alphabet shares are fairly valued or even inexpensive, despite the run-up.

The routine 13F filing on Friday revealed that Berkshire acquired roughly 18 million shares, worth about $4.3 billion, at some point in the third quarter, with Alphabet now the conglomerate’s 1oth-largest holding. The purchase most likely came from one of Buffett’s two portfolio managers, Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, who have both been granted power to make smaller bets within Berkshire’s $350 billion equity portfolio. The two have nudged Berkshire into tech since the late 2010s, exemplified by positions in Amazon and Apple, both of which have thus far paid off handsomely.

The Berkshire endorsement also adds a layer of legitimacy to Google’s AI narrative, signaling confidence, even as, in recent weeks, investors have balked at AI-related buildout costs among major tech companies like Meta.

For the 95-year-old Buffett, it also represents a kind of late-career redemption. The investor, never shy about admitting his mistakes, has publicly said he “blew it” by failing to buy Google early. For analysts and traders, the move also offers a glimpse of Berkshire’s post-Buffett future — one that’s slightly cozier with Silicon Valley and, by extension, AI.

The stake comes as Berkshire continues trimming other tech holdings, including another 15% cut to its massive Apple position, now worth about $60 billion.

Still, Apple remains its single largest investment.