Buffett's Top Three Holdings Carry Half of Berkshire's Stock Book

Berkshire Hathaway's 13F for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, disclosed on August 14, shows Apple, American Express and Coca-Cola together accounting for roughly half of the reported equity portfolio by weight.

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) has never pretended to run a diversified stock portfolio, and its latest quarterly disclosure makes the point in the bluntest way available. The conglomerate's 13F for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, disclosed on August 14, shows that three positions — Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) — together account for roughly half of the entire reported equity book by weight.

That is a striking figure for any institution managing money at Berkshire's scale, and it is the single most important thing an investor can know about how Warren Buffett's public-market exposure is actually built. The remaining names in the filing, however numerous, collectively carry about as much weight as those three lines.

What a 13F does and does not tell you

A 13F is the quarterly holdings report that large US institutional managers must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is a snapshot of long US-listed equity positions at the close of the quarter — in this case June 30, 2026 — published with a lag. Berkshire's landed in mid-August, weeks after the period it describes.

Two caveats matter when reading concentration off such a filing. First, the weights are point-in-time: prices have moved since June 30, so today's real weights differ from the disclosed ones. Second, a 13F covers only the reported equity book. It does not capture Berkshire's wholly owned operating businesses, its insurance float, its cash and Treasury bills, or non-US listings. Berkshire's overall risk is therefore far less concentrated than the equity table suggests — but the equity table is what public-market investors are exposed to when they buy the shares.

Where the three stocks stand right now

The three names sit in very different parts of the market, which is the partial defence against the concentration charge. Apple is a consumer hardware and services business, American Express a lender and payments network, Coca-Cola a global beverage franchise. As of the last trade at 15:19 GMT on Tuesday, September 8, 2026:

• Apple was quoted at 316.06, down 1.22% on the day from a previous close of 319.97, with an intraday range of 315.27 to 320.70.
• American Express was at 327.15, up 0.30% from a prior close of 326.16, having traded between 322.65 and 327.50.
• Coca-Cola was effectively flat at 88.03, down 0.05% from 88.07, in a 87.55 to 88.44 band.

Berkshire's own B shares changed hands at 504.69, down 0.26% from a previous close of 506.03, with a session range of 500.70 to 505.46.

The session's backdrop was mixed rather than directional. The S&P 500 tracker (SPY) was at $768.29, off 0.25%; the Nasdaq 100 tracker (QQQ) was higher at $720.43, up 0.20%; and the Dow tracker (DIA) was the weak link at $529.07, down 0.94%. That split — large-cap tech holding up while the Dow's narrower, more industrial and financial-heavy basket lagged — is a useful reminder that a three-stock book behaves less like an index and more like three separate bets that happen to be reported on one page.

The arithmetic of a concentrated book

Concentration is not a synonym for recklessness, but it does change the shape of outcomes. When half the weight sits in three lines, half the portfolio's return in any period is driven by three earnings streams, three management teams and three sets of competitive threats. A single-day 1.22% move in one holding, as Apple posted on Tuesday, matters more to the whole than any comparable move in a tail position.

The offsetting argument, and the one Buffett has made for decades, is that diversification is protection against ignorance and that a manager who genuinely understands a handful of durable franchises is better off owning them heavily than diluting them. Two of these three — the payments network and the beverage company — are long-dated holdings whose economics Berkshire has followed through multiple cycles. Apple is the newer and by far the largest of the group in market-value terms, and it is also the one most exposed to hardware cycles, supply chains and platform regulation.

For shareholders, the practical consequence is that owning Berkshire is not the diversified proxy it is sometimes described as. An investor who already holds a broad index fund is very likely holding all three of these companies already; buying Berkshire on top of that stacks the exposure rather than spreading it.

What to watch from here

The next hard data point is the following 13F, which will show whether Berkshire's managers added to or trimmed any of the three during the September quarter. Until then, weight drift will be driven entirely by price: if Apple outperforms the other two, the top-three share of the book rises without a single share changing hands, and vice versa.

Three other things are worth tracking. One is the direction of Berkshire's cash pile relative to its equity book, since a rising cash balance implies the equity portfolio is shrinking as a share of total assets. Two is any sign of a new position large enough to dent the top three's combined weight — that would be a genuine shift in posture, not a rounding change. Three is succession: the composition of the public-equity book is the clearest running record of who is making the capital-allocation calls, and any meaningful de-concentration would say something about the next generation's tolerance for single-name risk.

The disclosure itself was flagged by 24/7 Wall St. For now the message from the filing is unchanged from what it has been for years: Berkshire's stock money is not spread thin, and the people running it do not appear to want it to be.

Key facts

• Filing: Berkshire Hathaway 13F for quarter ended June 30, 2026, disclosed August 14
• Concentration: Apple, American Express and Coca-Cola make up roughly half the reported equity book by weight
• BRK.B price: 504.69, -0.26% on the day, as of 15:19 GMT Sept. 8, 2026
• Top-three quotes: AAPL 316.06 (-1.22%), AXP 327.15 (+0.30%), KO 88.03 (-0.05%) at 15:19 GMT Sept. 8, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Which three stocks make up half of Berkshire Hathaway's equity portfolio?

According to Berkshire Hathaway's 13F for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, disclosed on August 14, the three largest positions by weight are Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). Together they account for roughly half of the entire reported equity book, with all remaining disclosed holdings splitting the other half.

What is a 13F filing?

A 13F is a quarterly report that large US institutional investment managers must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, listing their long positions in US-listed equities as of the quarter's end. It is published with a lag, so the holdings shown reflect the close of the quarter rather than the day it is released.

Does the 13F show all of Berkshire's investments?

No. A 13F captures only reported long US-listed equity positions. It excludes Berkshire's wholly owned operating businesses, insurance operations, cash and Treasury holdings, and non-US listings. Berkshire's total exposure is therefore considerably broader than the stock table suggests, even though the equity book is what public shareholders are directly tied to.

How did the three holdings trade on September 8, 2026?

As of the last trade at 15:19 GMT on September 8, 2026, Apple was quoted at 316.06, down 1.22% from a previous close of 319.97. American Express was at 327.15, up 0.30%. Coca-Cola was essentially flat at 88.03, down 0.05% from 88.07. Berkshire's B shares were at 504.69, off 0.26%.

Is a concentrated portfolio riskier?

Concentration increases the influence of individual holdings on total return, so single-company news moves the portfolio more than it would in a broad index fund. Buffett's long-stated counterargument is that diversification mainly protects investors who do not understand what they own, and that a small number of durable franchises can be held heavily by design.

What would change the top three's combined weight?

Two things: trading activity and price movement. If Berkshire's managers buy or sell any of the three, the next 13F will show it. Absent trades, the weights drift purely on relative performance, so a stretch of outperformance by one holding raises the top-three share of the book without a single share being bought or sold.

Sources

• Warren Buffett’s Portfolio Has Half Its Stock Money in Just 3 Names. Here Is What They Are. — 24/7 Wall St

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