3 Stocks Berkshire Hathaway Owns That I'd Buy Right Now, Including One It's Selling

Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio is highlighted as offering three current opportunities: American Express, Alphabet, and Ally Financial. Alphabet's Google Cloud business posted 82% revenue growth and holds a $514 billion backlog, while Ally trades below book value despite more than $100 billion in retail deposits and benefits from a higher-for-longer rate environment. Berkshire reduced its Ally stake by about 7%, likely to remain below the 10% ownership threshold that would trigger greater regulatory scrutiny, rather than signaling a bearish view.

Analysis

The investable distinction across these names is not Berkshire ownership but earnings sensitivity. GOOG has the cleanest path to estimate revisions if Cloud backlog converts without a proportional increase in depreciation and AI-infrastructure spend; the market will reward incremental cloud operating-margin expansion more than reported revenue growth. Over the next 1-3 quarters, the key risk is that AI search monetization or capex intensity forces investors to value Google Services as a mature, disruption-exposed cash generator rather than a funding source for Cloud.

AXP is a higher-quality consumer-credit expression than broad card issuers because its economics depend heavily on spend volume and merchant discount revenue, not solely revolving balances. That makes it relatively defensive in a mild slowdown but vulnerable if affluent discretionary categories—travel, entertainment and luxury—decelerate, which would pressure both billed-business growth and provisions. AXP's premium multiple can compress quickly if loan-loss trends rise while spending growth falls below management's long-term targets.

ALLY is the highest-beta expression of a benign consumer-credit and easing-funding-cost scenario, but its apparent book-value discount should be treated as compensation for used-car residual-value, auto-default, and deposit-beta risk. The important second-order variable is used-vehicle pricing: renewed depreciation raises loss severity and lease residual pressure simultaneously, limiting the benefit of any future NIM expansion. Recent Berkshire position changes are not a standalone signal; ownership-threshold management and portfolio liquidity can dominate fundamental intent.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Initiate a 3-6 month long GOOG / short MSFT pair only after the next earnings release confirms Cloud margin expansion and capex remains within market expectations. Target relative upside of 10-15%; exit if GOOG raises full-year capex materially without corresponding Cloud revenue or operating-income acceleration.
• Accumulate AXP on broad consumer-led pullbacks rather than chase strength; use a 6-12 month horizon and size as a quality-credit overweight versus lower-end consumer lenders. Thesis is falsified by two consecutive quarters of slowing billed business combined with rising net write-offs or a material cut to revenue-growth guidance.
• Use ALLY as a tactical 3-6 month long versus KRE, not an outright core bank position, if used-car pricing stabilizes and deposit costs begin declining. A reasonable framework is 15-20% upside to normalization against a 10% stop; exit on worsening auto delinquency/vintage commentary, renewed used-vehicle price deflation, or CET1 pressure that constrains buybacks.
• Avoid interpreting BAC or COF weakness from disclosed portfolio reductions as a directional short signal. For COF specifically, monitor credit losses and integration/capital milestones before initiating exposure; absent those data, the risk-adjusted trade is to stay neutral rather than infer a fundamental deterioration.