Say what you want about Warren Buffett, the guy likes his suds.
Let's face it. When Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) makes a move, people pay attention.
💵💰Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter 💰💵
The legendary Oracle of Omaha's investment activity is closely followed by analysts and investors, who view his decisions as a bellwether for market trends.
This is a man who once said that "risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing," so it stands to reason that people would want to know what's he's been up to in the money department.
Berkshire Hathaway had an average annual return of about 19.8% from 1965 to 2023, beating out the S&P 500's 10.1% average during the same period.
In 2024, Berkshire Hathaway's Class A (BRK.A) shares saw a 25.5% total return, slightly outperforming the S&P 500's 25% return.
Related: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reveals major homebuying mistakes to avoid
Of course, that's not to say everybody is feeling the love for Buffett.
Last month, investor and entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano blasted Berkshire Hathaway in a social media post as "the boomer meme coin" and branded Buffett as "the OG financial influencer."
"Buffett used to buy a stock and then go shill them in national newspapers/magazines," Pompliano said on X. "Nothing wrong with Buffett/Berkshire, but important to understand 'meme coins' are not new."
Still, plenty of people want to know what the alleged "original gangster" financial influencer and his boomer meme coin on are up to.
Ed Ponsi noted that Berkshire Hathaway stock continues to roll higher.
Investor says Buffett is a bargain hunter
"As a value investor, Buffett probably wouldn’t buy Berkshire Hathaway at its current price," Ponsi said in his recent TheStreet Pro column.
"Buffett is a bargain hunter, sifting through an overpriced market in search of undervalued stocks," he added. "He’s not a momentum trader, so Berkshire's bullish chart means nothing to him."
Buffett's group recently gave investors a blueprint of his thought processes in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Form 13F, which must be filed quarterly, shows that computer kingpin Apple (AAPL) is Berkshire Hathaway's largest stock investment.
Berkshire sharply cut its holding in Apple during the first nine months of 2024 — by about two-thirds to 300 million shares, a 2% stake. But it did not reduce its position in the fourth quarter, which was valued at $75.1 billion.
After the iPhone maker, Berkshire's top holdings as of Dec. 31 were American Express (AXP) , Bank of America, Coca-Cola (KO) , and Chevron (CVX) .
Buffett trimmed his position in Bank of America (BAC) by 117 million shares and now owns roughly 680 million shares.
The company also cut its stake in such financial names as Citigroup (C) , Capital One (COF) and digital banking company Nu Holdings (NU) .
The company increased its positions in restaurant chain Domino's Pizza, domain name company VeriSign (VRSN) , satellite radio service SiriusXM, swimming pool supplier Pool Corp. (POOL) , and oil and gas company Occidental Petroleum (OXY) .
More 2025 stock market forecasts
- Veteran trader who correctly picked Palantir as top stock in ‘24 reveals best stock for ‘25
- 5 quantum computing stocks investors are targeting in 2025
- Goldman Sachs picks top sectors to own in 2025
- Every major Wall Street analyst's S&P 500 forecast for 2025
Berkshire Hathaway bought an additional 1.1 million shares of Domino's Pizza (DPZ) , boosting its total holdings to 2.4 million shares.
"Technically, Domino’s is looking tasty, with the stock closing at a six-month high just last week," Ponsi said. "Domino’s performed a legendary turnaround starting in 2009, when the company publicly admitted that its product wasn’t very good."
On the other hand, Ponsi said, "SiriusXM (SIRI) has been a disaster for investors, losing nearly two-thirds of its value over the past five years."
"However, SiriusXM has warmed up lately, gaining nearly 20% since reporting earnings less than three weeks ago," the experienced trader said.
SiriusXM recently beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter earnings expectations.
Berkshire exited from SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) , the oldest and largest ETF in the U.S., and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) , both of which the company had owned since the fourth quarter of 2019.
In addition, Berkshire sold all its shares in Ulta Beauty (ULTA) , the largest beauty retailer in the U.S., after two quarters.
Analyst calls Corona beer company stock decline too dramatic
Overall in Q4, Ponsi said that Buffett sold $14.6 billion of stock, while making purchases valued at $3.4 billion.
"With cash flow from continuing operations added to the mix, Berkshire's cash position increased from $325 billion in the third quarter to a record $345 billion in the fourth quarter," Ponsi said.
One new name appeared in the Berkshire Hathaway universe and that was Constellation Brands (STZ) , which owns the U.S. rights to such imported beers as Corona, Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo, and Pacífico.
This may seem like an odd choice, given the Rochester, N.Y., company's less-than-stellar stock performance.
Ponsi says that a technical trader would avoid Constellation Brands, which has lost 37% of its value since the start of last year’s fourth quarter. The stock is down nearly 23% year-to-date and 2025 just got started.
But the shares were up 5% at last check as news of Buffett's investment hit the streets.
"Buffett must believe that the stock now trades below its fair value," Ponsi said. "It’s interesting to note that Constellation’s steepest decline occurred in January, after Berkshire Hathaway’s initial buy. Don’t be surprised if Buffett adds to this recently established position in the current quarter."
During the company’s quarterly earnings call, William Newlands, president and CEO, reminded investors that "subdued overall spend and prolonged value-seeking behavior among consumers have been key near-term limiting factors on demand growth, not only for our portfolio but also for the dollar sales growth rate of total beverage alcohol."
Related: Warren Buffett buys $54 million of bargain-bin media stock
Last month, Roth MKM was one of the investment firms that slashed their price targets on Constellation after the company's disappointing third-quarter miss and lowered guidance.
The firm, which kept a buy rating on the shares, slashed its price target to $284 from $298 per share.
Beer depletions — the cases of beer that a distributor sells to retailers and are then sold to consumers — were up 3.2% and marked a selling-day adjusted deceleration, though the stock's 15% decline in the subsequent two sessions was "too dramatic," Roth MKM said.
Modelo is unlikely to have reached saturation, and even near-term headwinds such as the L.A. fires present longer-term reconstruction tailwinds, Roth said, adding that the trajectory of key brands Modelo, Corona, and Pacifico was unchanged.
Berkshire Hathaway is scheduled to release its annual report —including Buffett’s much anticipated annual letter to shareholders —on Feb. 22.
Related: Veteran fund manager issues dire S&P 500 warning for 2025
