WARREN BUFFETT WATCH

 
Buffett, not Abel, appears to be still calling the shots on stocks

Almost two weeks ago, Berkshire Hathaway reported its huge cash reserves declined by billions of dollars during the second quarter, the first significant drop since early 2022.

It appeared to many, including me, that Greg Abel was making his mark as the company's new CEO by putting a "big chunk of Berkshire's cash to work."

In the wake of last week's disclosure of exactly what it had in its equity portfolio as of June 30, it now looks like it's more complicated than that.

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Warren Buffett and Greg Abel at the 2025 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha. CNBC/David A. Grogan

Barron's Andrew Bary makes the case that Abel hasn't been involved in stock calls at all and its Warren Buffett who "still likes making big investment decisions involving Berkshire’s $350 billion-plus equity portfolio—and letting Berkshire holders know that he’s still in the game" as he approaches his 96th birthday.

While Buffett was careful to note he often talks with Abel, and neither would do anything the other didn't approve of, he revealed in a CNBC interview last month he had "initiated" Berkshire's Alphabet investment.

That stock first appeared in the portfolio in last year's third quarter.

Bloomberg has reported that Berkshire's Q2 purchase of $10 billion in Alphabet shares directly from the company came after Abel gave a "rapid signoff" to the deal in response to a "stealthy weekend call" to Berkshire from Goldman Sachs, the firm putting together Alphabet's enormous equity offering.

Presumably, Buffett also gave his OK.

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Bary believes the second largest purchase in Q2, Delta Air Lines, was the work of portfolio manager Ted Weschler.

He notes Abel has "no formal portfolio management experience and doesn’t appear to be making any notable stock-picking decisions" while "he has his hands full" running Berkshire's many operating companies and looking for new ones to buy.

Abel has been spending some of Berkshire's cash with his $6.8 billion acquisition of Taylor Morrison Home, although it didn't close until after Q2 ended.

 
Close race for third place in Berkshire's portfolio

The roughly $17 billion increase in Berkshire Hathaway's Alphabet stake during the second quarter made Google's parent the third largest holding in the company's equity portfolio, displacing Coca-Cola in that slot.

As of June 30, the end of the quarter, the Alphabet shares had a market value of $37.77 billion, $5.26 billion ahead of Coca-Cola's $32.51 billion.

Since then, however, Alphabet shares have dropped by 3.5% while Coca-Cola has rallied by 12.1%.

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As a result, as of today's close, Alphabet's lead is just a razor-thin $20 million.

On two days, July 30 and yesterday, August 20, Coca-Cola topped Alphabet by slim margins at the close.

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Appeals court rejects bid to toss real estate commissions settlement

A federal appeals court in St. Louis is upholding the 2024 settlement of a class action antitrust suit against Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary HomeServices of America and the National Association of Realtors, Reuters reports.

HomeServices agreed to pay $250 million of a more than $1 billion settlement to resolve claims that long-standing rules over the splitting of real estate commissions kept them artificially high.

As part of the settlement, the NAR agreed to revise those rules.

Some of the plaintiffs, however, think they were short-changed and went to court to block the deal.

This week's ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals backs a lower court's approval of the settlement.

A newly built single-family residential home is shown with a sold sign at a small costal development in Encinitas, California, August 20, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake
A newly built single-family residential home is shown with a sold sign at a small costal development in Encinitas, California, August 20, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake

A lawyer for some of the objectors tells Reuters they may ask the Supreme Court to review the case. "Everyone got next to nothing for the sake of settling. There's something just not right about that."

The settlement came after a 2023 jury trial found the defendants liable for $1.78 billion in damages. That award could have been tripled under U.S. antitrust law.

HomeServices CEO Chris Kelly is quoted as saying this week's court win provides "additional certainty" to the company, its agents, and its customers.

The unit's parent, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, still faces a separate proposed antitrust class action suit over real estate commissions after a judge ruled last April that it is not covered by the HomeServices settlement.

When BHE was targeted two years ago, a lawyer for plaintiffs told The New York Times, "Berkshire Hathaway is the leader of the pack. It’s much bigger than N.A.R... If you want to bring about change in corporate America, hit them in the pocketbook. And that’s exactly where this is aimed."

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