Warren Buffett's Portfolio in 2026: What He's Buying During the Correction

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Warren Buffett has been through 14 bear markets. He survived the dot-com crash, the 2008 financial meltdown, a global pandemic, and now the 2026 correction driven by tariff shock and geopolitical chaos. He's 95 years old and Berkshire Hathaway's stock has compounded at roughly 20% annually for 60 years — the greatest long-term investment track record in human history.

So when the market gets genuinely scary, there's a simple question worth asking: what is Buffett actually doing?

Not what he's saying in interviews. What Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filings, annual reports, and shareholder letters tell us about where capital is being deployed — and just as importantly, where it isn't.

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The $320 Billion Elephant in the Room

Before we look at what Buffett is buying, we have to talk about what he's holding.

Berkshire Hathaway entered 2026 with a cash and Treasury bill position exceeding $320 billion — the largest in the company's history. Buffett has been a net seller of equities for several quarters running. He trimmed Apple. He sold chunks of Bank of America. He has not made a major acquisition in years.

This is not a man in a buying frenzy. This is a man waiting.

At the 2024 Berkshire annual meeting, Buffett explained his thinking directly: "We only swing at fat pitches." He's not interested in buying businesses at fair value. He wants to buy exceptional businesses at obviously cheap prices — and he's been saying, essentially, that he hasn't seen many lately.

What does a $320 billion cash pile mean for ordinary investors?

It's a signal. When the world's most patient investor with unlimited capital to deploy is choosing to hold cash over stocks, it tells you something about valuations. It doesn't mean you should sit on the sidelines — DCA investors should keep buying regardless. But it does reinforce the value of discipline and waiting for real margin of safety.

The correction we're in right now may be exactly the moment Berkshire starts deploying. Watch the 13F filings.

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Berkshire Hathaway's Current Portfolio (Q4 2025 / Latest 13F)

Based on Berkshire's most recent regulatory filings, here are the core equity positions:

Top Holdings by Market Value

| Company | Ticker | Approximate Position | Why Buffett Holds It | |---------|--------|---------------------|---------------------| | Apple | AAPL | ~$60B (trimmed but still #1) | Consumer ecosystem moat, capital returns | | American Express | AXP | ~$40B | Network effect, premium customer base | | Bank of America | BAC | ~$31B | Trimmed in 2024–25 but remains large | | Coca-Cola | KO | ~$25B | 38-year hold, pricing power, global distribution | | Chevron | CVX | ~$18B | Energy transition hedge, dividend yield | | Occidental Petroleum | OXY | ~$14B | Vicki Hollub's capital allocation, U.S. shale | | Kraft Heinz | KHC | ~$10B | Legacy position, facing headwinds | | Moody's | MCO | ~$10B | Data monopoly, near-zero marginal cost | | Davita | DVA | ~$5B | Healthcare infrastructure, defensible |

Note: These figures are estimates based on most recent 13F filings and subsequent price changes. Verify current positions at SEC.gov before making any investment decisions.

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What Buffett's Holdings Tell Us About Value Investing Principles

Here's what's striking about Berkshire's portfolio: almost every position is a business with an obvious competitive moat.

• Apple: 2 billion installed iPhones. Switching cost = enormous.
• American Express: Premium card network. Top-spending cardholders. Network effect compounds for decades.
• Coca-Cola: 130-year brand. Distribution in 200+ countries. Price-inelastic demand.
• Moody's: One of three credit rating agencies. Regulatory moat. $0 marginal cost per additional rating.

This is the Buffett upgrade of Graham's original framework. Graham looked for statistical cheapness — stocks trading at significant discounts to book value, P/E ratios below 15, net current asset value bargains. Buffett applied that lens but added a qualitative filter: is this business going to be better in 20 years, or will competition eat it alive?

The businesses in Berkshire's portfolio all have one thing in common: they have structural advantages that protect their earnings from competition. That's what Buffett means by "economic moat."

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What Buffett Is Actually Doing in the 2026 Correction

Let's be clear about what we can and can't know. 13F filings are backward-looking — they show us positions as of a quarter end, not what's being bought or sold right now. We'll get Q1 2026 data in mid-May.

But we can infer from Buffett's behavior and statements:

1. He's waiting for fat pitches, not swinging at everything.

Buffett's cash pile is a bet that better opportunities are coming. He's not buying stocks indiscriminately because the market is down. He's looking for moments where a great business trades at an obviously stupid price — the kind of discount that creates a massive margin of safety.

2. He's interested in businesses that benefit from a tariff environment.

American businesses with primarily domestic operations — energy companies, U.S.-focused financials, consumer staples with strong domestic pricing — are relatively insulated from tariff shock compared to global manufacturers. Several of Berkshire's key holdings fit this profile.

3. He's continuing to buy back Berkshire shares.

When Buffett can't find external investments at attractive prices, he buys the business he knows best: his own. Berkshire buybacks have been significant. At current valuations, he apparently finds Berkshire itself more attractive than most available acquisitions.

4. Occidental is getting more interesting.

OXY has pulled back significantly with energy price volatility. Berkshire already owns roughly 28% of Occidental's equity and warrants for even more. If oil prices remain elevated (the Iran War keeps Strait of Hormuz risk priced in), OXY's cash generation improves dramatically. Watch this one.

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How to Think Like Buffett During a Correction

Here's what Buffett actually does in real time during a correction, based on his writings and the factual record:

Step 1: Read the balance sheet, not the headlines.

The value of a business is its discounted future cash flows. A geopolitical crisis changes the news cycle. It rarely changes the long-term cash generating capacity of a company with a strong moat.

When Buffett's hearing about Iran War risk, he's asking: "Does this permanently impair the earnings power of Coca-Cola? Of American Express? Of Moody's?" Almost always, the answer is no — and that's when patient investors buy.

Step 2: Demand a margin of safety.

Graham's concept, Buffett's religion: never pay full price for intrinsic value. You want a discount — 25–40% — to protect yourself against being wrong about the business and against macro surprises. The Graham Number calculation gives you a quick intrinsic value benchmark. Stocks trading 30%+ below their Graham Number have the kind of cushion Buffett demands.

Run a Graham Number screen at valueofstock.com/calculator →

Step 3: Be greedy when others are fearful.

Buffett has said this so many times it's become a cliché — but it's still true. The correction of 2026 has created genuine bargains in sectors where fear, not fundamentals, is driving prices. That's where patient capital goes to work.

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The Buffett Stocks Most Worth Watching Right Now

If you're building a portfolio influenced by Buffett's principles (not just copying his positions), here are the current Berkshire holdings that fit a value/correction thesis most cleanly:

Occidental Petroleum (OXY): Buffett's been buying this aggressively. OXY benefits from elevated oil prices and Vicki Hollub's disciplined capital allocation. A sustained Iran War premium in energy prices is bullish for OXY's free cash flow.

Bank of America (BAC): He trimmed it but hasn't abandoned it. Net interest income benefits from a higher-for-longer rate environment. One of the better-run large U.S. banks. Graham Number analysis suggests it may still be trading near fair value.

American Express (AXP): One of Buffett's longest and most successful holds. AmEx continues to grow spending volume, particularly among premium cardholders. The network effect deepens every year.

Coca-Cola (KO): The classic defensive hold. In a recession/correction, consumer staples with global distribution and pricing power are exactly where Buffett hides money. KO's dividend has grown for 63 consecutive years.

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You Can Screen Like Buffett Does

You don't need billions to apply Buffett's methodology. The Graham Number is the quantitative starting point he learned from his mentor — and you can run it on any stock in under 30 seconds.

The formula: √(22.5 × EPS × Book Value Per Share)

A stock trading below this number is potentially undervalued. Stack a strong moat on top of a significant discount to intrinsic value, and you have Buffett's basic template.

Use the free Graham Number calculator at valueofstock.com/calculator →

Upgrade to Pro to screen all 500+ stocks simultaneously and see which ones are trading at the biggest discounts to their Graham Numbers right now.

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Related Articles

• Graham Number calculator — Buffett's mentor's method
• defensive stocks Buffett would approve of
• beginner's guide to value investing

Get the Full Value Investing Framework

Buffett's success isn't magic. It's a systematic application of principles Graham codified in the 1930s and Buffett refined over decades. Those principles are learnable — and they work at any account size.

The StockWise 6 Value Investing Toolkit breaks down the full framework: moat analysis, Graham Number calculation, margin of safety, portfolio construction, and how to hold through a correction without panic-selling.

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Disclaimer: This article is educational and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio data is based on publicly available 13F filings and may not reflect current positions. Always verify current holdings with SEC filings before making investment decisions. Harper Banks and valueofstock.com may earn affiliate commissions from products linked in this article.