Warren Buffett's Successor, Greg Abel, Has 69% of Berkshire Hathaway's Portfolio Invested in Just 5 Stocks. Here's My Top Pick for October.
2026-10-26 15:00
•Dave Kovaleski •The Motley Fool
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Greg Abel’s Alphabet Bet: What SA Investors Should Watch
Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO successor is loading up on Alphabet, signaling strong confidence in AI and cloud growth.
Greg Abel, the new CEO at Berkshire Hathaway, is clearly putting his chips on Alphabet. With nearly 10% of the portfolio now in this one stock, up sharply in the last year, it’s a bet that AI-driven cloud growth will fuel long-term gains. Alphabet trades at about 16 times earnings, one of its cheapest valuations in over a decade, making it attractive against a backdrop of a $514 billion cloud backlog growing 50% per quarter. For South African investors, this is a backdoor play on the global tech boom without the usual volatility of US tech giants like Apple. But keep in mind, the gamble here is on elevated capital expenditure paying off. If cloud demand softens or regulatory pressure mounts, returns may disappoint. The rand (USD/ZAR) remains important, as a weaker rand can amplify gains on such USD-denominated exposures. We think Abel’s move raises interesting questions for local portfolios, especially in balancing risk and growth. this is just our opinion and not financial advice
For JSE investors with offshore exposure, consider increasing allocation to USD assets by adding global tech via a fund or ETF tilted toward Alphabet. Locally, stay cautious on Rand-sensitive stocks like MTN given FX swings. Alphabet looks like a solid buy for patient growth but watch capex and regulatory risks closely.
- Alphabet (GOOG)
- USD/ZAR
- Rising capital expenditures eroding profits
- Potential US and EU regulatory crackdowns on tech giants
6/10
Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO, has concentrated the portfolio into 5 stocks representing 69% of holdings, down from 42 to 29 total positions. Abel has aggressively increased Alphabet holdings from 2% to 9.4% in just one year, similar to how Warren Buffett built Apple into the largest position. Despite high capital expenditures, Alphabet's attractive 16x P/E ratio and $514 billion cloud backlog make it an appealing investment during the AI boom.
Our take is based on reporting first published by The Motley Fool.