As Warren Buffett Steps Back, His Final Stock Moves Reveal Investment Strategy

Before Warren Buffett relinquished control of Berkshire Hathaway at the beginning of 2026, he orchestrated one last portfolio shuffle that speaks volumes about where he still sees opportunity in today’s market. The legendary investor and his team deployed $6.4 billion into six different stocks during the third quarter, signaling that despite a challenging environment for deal-making, compelling opportunities still exist for those who know where to look.

What makes these moves particularly noteworthy is the context: Berkshire has been a net seller of equities for 12 consecutive quarters. The conglomerate has offloaded significant positions in Apple, Bank of America, and VeriSign, among others. In such a cautious climate, finding six stocks worthy of capital allocation tells us something important about how Buffett and his investment managers evaluate risk and opportunity.

Six Strategic Equity Purchases Before Leadership Transition

The portfolio additions reveal a mix of defensive and growth-oriented plays:

Alphabet entered as a fresh position with 17.8 million shares acquired—a particularly intriguing move given Buffett’s historical skepticism toward technology investments. Chubb received an additional 4.3 million shares, building on a position established in late 2023. Domino’s Pizza saw its stake grow by 348,000 shares, continuing a multi-year pattern of accumulation. Lamar Advertising gained 32,603 shares, while Lennar received a modest addition. Sirius XM rounded out the list with 5 million new shares.

The persistence in adding to Domino’s Pizza and Sirius XM over consecutive years demonstrates conviction in these investments. Domino’s has bucked the struggling pizza industry, delivering same-store sales growth of 5.2% in the third quarter—substantially outpacing competitors. Sirius XM, despite facing headwinds from music streaming competition, maintains a reliable subscriber pipeline connected to new vehicle sales. With its subscription-based revenue model generating predictable cash flows and a forward P/E ratio below 7, the appeal remains clear.

Chubb represents a different thesis: a globally scaled insurance operation with formidable competitive advantages in complex commercial coverage. Its position and scale enable it to serve international clients that smaller competitors cannot efficiently serve. This aligns perfectly with Buffett’s demonstrated preference for businesses with structural advantages in their industries.

Why Alphabet Emerges as the Standout Pick

Among these six holdings, Alphabet distinguishes itself—and not just because it breaks from Buffett’s traditional profile. The tech giant possesses the very characteristics that have historically attracted value-oriented investors: a sustainable competitive moat, robust free cash flow generation, and management executing a clear strategic vision.

Google’s search engine generates cash at a rate that belies the risks many feared from artificial intelligence. Rather than being displaced by AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google’s leadership integrated AI directly into the search experience. Their AI Overviews have simultaneously increased user engagement and maintained monetization efficiency, allowing Google ad revenue to accelerate to 15% growth in the most recent quarter.

The financial performance underscores this competitive strength. Alphabet produced $73.5 billion in free cash flow over the trailing twelve months while simultaneously investing heavily in data center infrastructure for Google Cloud. That division’s revenue trajectory—growing in the low-to-mid 30% range quarterly—demonstrates the scale of the opportunity ahead. Even more impressively, as Google Cloud expands, Alphabet’s operating margins are contracting slightly near 24%, suggesting significant room for margin expansion as the cloud business scales.

The capital allocation discipline reinforces the investment case. Alphabet returns cash to shareholders through both dividends and share repurchases, demonstrating management confidence in valuation. At a forward earnings multiple of 29x, the stock no longer trades at a discount to the broader market, yet the growth trajectory and cash generation still appear compelling.

The Investment Takeaway

Following Buffett’s playbook into stocks requires more than mimicking his portfolio—it requires understanding his investment philosophy. The selection of these six companies, and particularly the prominence of Alphabet, reflects a pragmatic reassessment of how value manifests in 2026. When one of history’s most successful investors makes his final moves in one position before stepping down, paying attention to which stocks he chose tells us where enduring value still hides, even in an expensive market.