Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is building a secret stock position and regulators have granted special treatment to keep the new bet under wraps, according to a regulatory filing. Keeping a new stake confidential for the time being is beneficial for Berkshire as it contains volatility until it’s done buying. The last time Berkshire kept a purchase confidential was when it invested in Chubb last year. Due to the sheer size of Berkshire’s equity portfolio, recently at about $275 billion worth of stock, any bet would usually have to amount to billions of dollars in order to have an effect on returns, and that could easily take months to build. Offloading bank stocks Also in the first quarter, Berkshire dumped even more bank stocks, exiting Citigroup entirely and selling more Bank of America shares. The Omaha-based conglomerate sold out of its Citigroup position by the end of March, according to a new regulatory filing. The holding was worth more than $1 billion at the end of 2024 and Berkshire had owned the stock since the first quarter of 2022. Berkshire trimmed its Bank of America stake for a third straight quarter, bringing its bet to 631.6 million shares worth more than $26 billion. Even after the latest sale, the nation’s second-largest bank is still Berkshire’s fourth-largest equity holding. Doubling Constellation Brands Meanwhile, Berkshire doubled its stake in beer-and-wine producer Constellation Brands last quarter, increasing the value of the position to some $2.2 billion. Constellation, which Berkshire first invested in during the fourth quarter of 2024, recently came under pressure after President Donald Trump announced steep tariffs on Mexican imports. Constellation imports all of its beer from Mexico, including Modelo and Corona. Beer accounted for 86% of Constellation’s sales in the first half of its fiscal year. The stock is down about 14% this year. Notably, Berkshire kept its highly scrutinized Apple stake unchanged at a round number of 300 million shares. Buffett turned heads last year by selling two thirds of the tech stake. The remaining holding is still Berkshire’s biggest stake by far, worth nearly $67 billion. Buffett is stepping down as CEO at Berkshire after an unmatched 60-year run . The 94-year-old is handing the reins over to Greg Abel at the start of 2026, although Buffett will remain chairman of the board.
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