Overview
- Berkshire Hathaway now holds about $30–31 billion of Alphabet stock after open-market buys and a roughly $10 billion June private placement that bought both Class A and Class C shares.
- Warren Buffett said in mid-July that he initiated the position and regretted not buying earlier, and Greg Abel then drove large additions in Q1 2026 and approved the June private placement.
- Alphabet’s Google Cloud posted very strong growth, with revenue rising roughly 80% year over year and a backlog that analysts cited as evidence of sustained enterprise AI demand.
- The trade exposes a clear tension because Alphabet raised 2026 capital expenditures toward $195–$205 billion and reported negative free cash flow in Q2 after halting buybacks.
- The move is part of a broader portfolio reshaping under Abel that included trimming holdings like Chevron and deploying cash into acquisitions, a shift that could change Berkshire’s cash use and risk profile going forward.