Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Makes Bigger Amazon Bet, Boosting Stake 11%

(Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett’s company deepened its wager on Amazon.com Inc.

• Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s stake in the online retailing giant rose 11% in the second quarter, to a of more than $1 billion, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday. The investment, originally made by one of Buffett’s investing deputies, showed how Berkshire’s view on technology companies has been shifting.

Key Insights

• Berkshire’s Amazon stake remains far smaller than its investment in Apple Inc., which totaled more than $49 billion at the end of the second quarter with no change in shares held. Berkshire’s bigger push into technology companies has been driven in part by Buffett deputies Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, one of whom made the original Amazon investment in the first quarter.
• The banking industry has been a favorite target for Berkshire in recent months. The company boosted its bet on U.S. Bancorp by 2.4% to a stake d at $6.9 billion as of June 30. Buffett’s company has been piling into JPMorgan Chase & Co. and expanding its investment in Bank of America Corp. over the past year.
• Berkshire’s also been a seller. The company cut its investment in Charter Communications Inc. by 5%, leaving the of the holding at $2.1 billion at the end of the second quarter, even as the stock surged. The cable company’s shares gained 14% during the quarter.

Get More

• For more on Berkshire’s holdings, click here.
• To see more 13F filings, click here.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.