Although Warren Buffett’s pursuit of the latest trends in the stock market may not be obvious, it can be seen from Berkshire Hathaway’s investment portfolio that many stocks held by the company are benefiting from artificial intelligence.
Since 1965, Buffett has been leading Berkshire Hathaway holding company. He likes to invest in companies with stable growth, reliable profitability, and strong management teams, and implements shareholder-friendly measures such as dividend payments and stock buyback plans.
This strategy is indeed working. From 1965 to 2023, Berkshire’s return rate reached an astonishing 4,384,748%. This is equivalent to a compound annual growth rate of 19.8%, almost twice the annual return rate of the S&P 500 index during the same period, which was 10.2%.
In terms of US dollars, a $1,000 investment in Berkshire Hathaway stock in 1965 would have grown to over $43 million, while the same investment in the S&P 500 index, with dividend reinvestment, would be worth only $312,333.
Buffett is not an investor who chases the latest trends in the stock market, so you won’t see him heavily invested in popular artificial intelligence stocks.
However, three stocks currently held by Berkshire are benefiting greatly from artificial intelligence and account for over 45% of Berkshire’s publicly traded securities portfolio, with a total value of $398.7 billion.
In the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, ending April 30, Snowflake’s product revenue reached $789.6 million, a year-on-year growth of 34%. At first glance, this is a strong growth rate, but it has slowed down compared to previous quarters.
Although Snowflake continues to invest heavily in growth initiatives such as marketing and research and development, the pace of acquiring new customers has slowed down, and existing customers are expanding their consumption at a slower rate.
Berkshire Hathaway bought shares of Snowflake when the data cloud specialist company went public in 2020, so the price per share may be around $120.
In 2021, the stock price of the company soared to a high of $392, but has since fallen 63% from that level, and is currently priced at $142. Unfortunately, due to the company’s growth slowdown, the stock price still seems relatively expensive, so investors may want to avoid Berkshire’s selection in this regard.
02.
Amazon: accounts for 0.5% of Berkshire Hathaway’s investment portfolio
Berkshire bought Amazon (AMZN1.22%) stock in 2019, and Buffett has expressed regret for not discovering this opportunity earlier. Amazon started as an e-commerce company and later expanded into the fields of cloud computing, streaming media, and digital advertising, and now it has expanded into the field of artificial intelligence.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing division of Amazon, has designed its own data center chips, which can reduce the cost for AI developers by up to 50% compared to infrastructure using Nvidia chips.
In addition, Amazon’s Bedrock platform provides developers with a ready-made library of machine learning models (LLMs) from leading startups in the industry. Amazon has also independently developed its own LLM series called Titan.
Essentially, AWS aims to become the preferred destination for developers who intend to create their own AI applications. Various predictions on Wall Street indicate that AI could add trillions of dollars to the global economy in the next decade, which could be the biggest opportunity in Amazon’s history.
Berkshire Hathaway holds $2 billion worth of Amazon shares, accounting for only 0.5% of the conglomerate’s stock portfolio.
In the long run, AI could drive significant growth for Amazon. Therefore, if Buffett previously wished for a larger position in this holding, he may regret not increasing it earlier after the new chapter of AI begins.
03.
Apple: accounts for 44.5% of Berkshire Hathaway’s investment portfolio
Apple (AAPL2.16%) is the largest holding of Berkshire Hathaway to date. The conglomerate has accumulated stocks worth about $38 billion since 2016, and the current value of the holding is $177.6 billion.
Apple is dedicated to producing the world’s most popular electronic devices, including iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and the Mac series of computers.
The company is venturing into the field of artificial intelligence through its new Apple Intelligence software, which will be released in September with the iOS 18 operating system.
The software, developed in collaboration with OpenAI, will change the user experience of Apple devices. Siri voice assistant will leverage the capabilities of ChatGPT, and similarly, its writing tools such as notes, mail, and iMessage will also utilize ChatGPT to help users generate content quickly.
With over 2.2 billion active Apple devices worldwide, Apple could soon become the largest company distributing AI technology to consumers.
The upcoming iPhone 16 is expected to be equipped with powerful new chips capable of handling AI workloads on the device, which may trigger a significant upgrade cycle.
Apple meets all of Buffett’s stock selection criteria. Since Berkshire’s initial investment in 2016, the company has been steadily growing, consistently profitable, and has CEO Tim Cook, a steadfast leader. It has also returned a significant amount of money to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks.
In fact, Apple has just announced a $110 billion buyback plan, which is the largest buyback plan in US corporate history.
