Evidence is mounting that Buffett calling Berkshire shots on equities is not simply a transitional footnote but the defining feature of how the world’s most-watched investment portfolio is still being managed. The latest read of Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing, covering the quarter ended 30 June 2026, makes the division of labour clearer than it appeared a fortnight ago.
Two weeks back, when Berkshire reported its cash pile had fallen for the first time since early 2022, the narrative seemed straightforward: new chief executive Greg Abel was putting money to work. The Q2 13F, filed on 14 August 2026 and disclosing 29 US-listed positions with a combined value of approximately $299.3 billion, has complicated that reading considerably.
Buffett Calling Berkshire Shots on the Alphabet Trade
The quarter’s centrepiece was a roughly $17 billion expansion of Berkshire’s Alphabet position. According to Hedge Fund Alpha’s Q2 13F roundup, Berkshire’s Alphabet Class A (GOOGL) holding grew to approximately 78.79 million shares as of 30 June, up 45% from 54.25 million shares in Q1. A separate Class C (GOOG) position swelled to 27.19 million shares valued at roughly $9.61 billion, a near-sevenfold increase quarter-on-quarter.
Bloomberg reported that the $10 billion block purchase from Alphabet itself came after a weekend call from Goldman Sachs, with Abel giving a rapid signoff. But it was Buffett who told CNBC last month that he had ‘initiated’ the Alphabet investment, which first appeared in the portfolio in the third quarter of 2025. That is Buffett’s language for originating a trade, not rubber-stamping one.
Barron’s Andrew Bary has made the fullest case for the Buffett-is-still-in-charge reading. Abel, Bary writes, 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 sprawling operating subsidiaries and hunting for new ones. Buffett, approaching his 96th birthday, ‘still likes making big investment decisions involving Berkshire’s $350 billion-plus equity portfolio,’ Bary argues, and is using those trades to signal he remains active. The second-largest Q2 purchase, Delta Air Lines, Bary attributes to portfolio manager Ted Weschler rather than to Abel.
Buffett was careful, in his CNBC interview, to note he consults Abel and that neither would act without the other’s approval. That framing leaves room for different readings, but the weight of the available evidence points to Buffett as the one originating ideas.
Abel’s Domain: Acquisitions, Not Stock Calls
Where Abel is clearly leaving his mark is in the operating business, most visibly through the acquisition of Taylor Morrison Home. The deal closed on 24 July 2026 at $72.50 per common share in cash, representing a total equity value of approximately $6.8 billion and a total enterprise value of approximately $8.5 billion. The joint press release filed with the SEC confirmed the price represented a 24% premium to Taylor Morrison’s closing price of $58.50 on 29 May 2026, the day before the merger agreement was signed.
Taylor Morrison CEO Sheryl Palmer said the combination with Berkshire and its Clayton Homes regional site-built operations would allow the company to serve more customers across more markets while preserving local expertise. Berkshire already owns Clayton Homes, a range of building-products businesses, and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, one of the largest residential real estate brokerage franchise networks in the US.
The Taylor Morrison deal did not close until after Q2 ended, so it is absent from the 13F. The 13F did capture two other portfolio moves: a new position in homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI) and the complete exit from Constellation Brands (STZ).
Meanwhile, Berkshire’s overall cash position stood at $365.5 billion as of 30 June, down 8.0% from the 31 March level. The company also repurchased $4.5 billion of its own shares during the quarter.
The HomeServices Settlement Survives Appeal
On a separate legal front, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on 19 August 2026 to affirm the district court’s approval of the nationwide real estate commissions settlement. The panel rejected challenges on multiple grounds, including settlement adequacy, the release of certain claims, inclusion of the Real Estate Board of New York in the settlement, and the adequacy of buyer representation.
Berkshire’s HomeServices of America had agreed to contribute $250 million of a settlement totalling more than $1 billion. The National Association of Realtors’ portion stands at $418 million, and the NAR also agreed to eliminate its Cooperative Compensation Rule and restructure buyer-broker compensation practices. The settlement resolved claims stemming from a 2023 jury verdict that found defendants liable for $1.78 billion in damages, a figure that could have been tripled under US antitrust law.
HomeServices CEO Chris Kelly said the ruling gives the company, its agents, and its customers ‘additional certainty.’ A lawyer for some objectors told Real Estate News they may petition the Supreme Court: ‘Everyone got next to nothing for the sake of settling. There’s something just not right about that.’
Berkshire Hathaway Energy, parent of HomeServices, still faces a separate proposed antitrust class action over real estate commissions that a judge ruled last April is not covered by the HomeServices settlement. The Eighth Circuit separately affirmed $110.6 million in settlements resolving the related Gibson commission litigation on 3 September 2026.
Back in the equity portfolio, the position that most vividly illustrates Buffett’s continued involvement is the Alphabet trade itself. As of 30 June, the combined GOOGL and GOOG holdings carried a market value of $37.77 billion, pushing Alphabet past Coca-Cola into Berkshire’s third-largest disclosed holding. A subsequent 3.5% decline in Alphabet shares and a 12.1% rally in Coca-Cola have since narrowed that lead to roughly $20 million, a margin that flipped on two separate days. Whether Buffett treats that as noise, or as a prompt to add more, may be the next signal the market is watching for.
