Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) has stored cash all year. At the end of the third quarter of 2024, Berkshire had more than $320 billion in cash and short-term government bonds.
Many see this as a deafening warning to investors that the market, which has hit 57 all-time highs and topped the 6,000 mark for several periods this year, is due for a pullback sooner or later. However, recently Buffett and Berkshire amassed $563 million worth of stock in three companies, which Berkshire had to do because it already owns more than 10% of the stock in each company.
Are Buffett and Berkshire starting to see value in the stock market?
A few days ago, Berkshire filed Form 4 documents revealing new acquisitions Western petroleum (NYSE:OXY), Sirius XM (NASDAQ: SIRI)And VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN). The company bought about $405 million worth of Occidental Petroleum, $113 million worth of Sirius XM and about $45 million worth of VeriSign. His new purchases bring his position in each stock to:
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Western petroleum: 264.2 million shares, 28.2% of the company and 4.2% of Berkshire’s portfolio.
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SiriusXM: 117.5 million shares, 34.6% of the company and 0.9% of Berkshire’s portfolio.
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VeriSign: 13 million shares, 13.6% of the company and 0.9% of Berkshire’s portfolio.
Interestingly, none of these stocks have performed well this year, despite the broader market rising almost 26%.
However, all of these stocks are classic value stocks that Buffett and Berkshire love to own – and with great success. Occidental, a domestic oil company, has been struggling due to falling oil prices and the bleak outlook for oil in 2025. However, it is clear that Buffett and Berkshire have different views on the direction of oil production, at least in the long term, and a see a major domestic crisis. oil player as a valuable holding company.
Sirius XM, the parent company of Sirius Satellite Radio and Pandora, has also struggled due to subscriber growth trends. The company has invested heavily in its podcast platform and taken several corporate actions to make shares more attractive, but there is clearly more work to be done.
VeriSign has underperformed due to regulatory concerns and questions about the market and future growth.
It’s certainly possible that Buffett and Berkshire are starting to see buying opportunities. Securities law only requires immediate disclosure of stocks in which Berkshire has at least a 10% position, so it’s possible Berkshire bought more shares or even launched new positions in the fourth quarter.
