Warren Buffett's tenure as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is drawing to a close, yet the composition of the company's investment portfolio remains critically informative for market participants seeking insight into strategic stock selections. Buffett’s investment approach has long been grounded in value investing principles, emphasizing thorough understanding and careful assessment of each stock before inclusion. Consequently, the presence of artificial intelligence (AI)-centric companies within Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio invites keen attention.
Among these holdings, two particular companies stand out: Amazon (ticker: AMZN) and Alphabet (tickers: GOOG, GOOGL). Both are poised for significant upside potential in the upcoming year 2026, rendering them compelling considerations for investors evaluating prospects in tech and AI sectors.
Management and Acquisition Context
While Berkshire Hathaway is synonymous with Warren Buffett’s leadership, it is noteworthy that fund management responsibilities extend beyond him. Notably, Todd Combs, who has subsequently transitioned to JPMorgan, and Ted Weschler, who also oversaw portions of Berkshire’s portfolio, have demonstrated greater willingness to invest in technology-oriented stocks more intensively than Buffett traditionally has. This managerial context is relevant when tracing back Berkshire’s investments in Amazon and Alphabet, suggesting that these transactions could have originated from decisions made by Combs or Weschler rather than Buffett directly.
Currently, Alphabet represents approximately 1.7% of Berkshire's total investment portfolio, marking it as the firm's latest acquisition. Amazon, by contrast, has been a longer-standing holding since 2019 but constitutes a smaller fraction, about 0.7%, of the portfolio’s composition. Given the substantial scale of Berkshire’s overall equity investments, it is reasonable to infer that Buffett has endorsed maintaining these positions, regardless of who initially authorized their purchases.
Stock Performance and Forward-Looking Potential
The performance trends of Amazon and Alphabet throughout 2025 have diverged markedly. Alphabet’s shares have experienced a robust ascent, appreciating roughly 60% during this period. Conversely, Amazon’s stock price has exhibited marginal growth, inching upward by about 3%, reflecting a comparatively subdued market response.
Alphabet's notable gains in 2025 occurred despite early-year skepticism regarding its capacity to compete effectively in the generative AI space. Concerns regarding antitrust challenges potentially leading to governmental breakups, the risk of lagging behind competitors in AI technological advancements, and fears that its flagship Google Search could be supplanted by newer generative AI innovations did not materialize. These unfulfilled apprehensions contributed to investor confidence, bolstering Alphabet’s equity value substantially.
Looking ahead, the conditions that propelled Alphabet's stock growth are expected to persist into 2026. The company has emerged as a leader in generative AI technology, having closed previous gaps relative to competitors. This leadership is anticipated to unlock new revenue opportunities, notably as Alphabet begins offering its proprietary Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) AI chips to the open market. This development positions the company for a potentially transformative financial year.
On the other hand, Amazon's modest stock appreciation throughout 2025 belies the underlying business momentum. The company's overall revenue expanded by 13% in the third quarter alone, reflecting robust operational growth. A critical driver within Amazon's portfolio is its cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), which, while constituting only 18% of total revenue, accounts for a substantial 66% of operating income. AWS's recent quarterly growth reached its highest rate in several years, a metric that typically would attract investor enthusiasm.
Despite Amazon's solid business fundamentals, market receptivity remained tepid during 2025, potentially priming the stock for a significant turnaround in 2026. The company’s strengths in cloud computing, coupled with its broad ecommerce platform, create a foundation for considerable upside potential.
Investment Implications and Outlook
Although Warren Buffett’s departure from his role at Berkshire Hathaway signals a forthcoming leadership change, the continued inclusion and scale of Amazon and Alphabet within the firm’s portfolio underscore a lasting endorsement of these businesses' strategic prospects. Both firms represent pillars of AI innovation and cloud infrastructure, sectors integral to future technological advancements.
Given the scale and performance trajectories of these investments, Berkshire Hathaway's position suggests a vote of confidence in Alphabet’s capacity to extend its AI dominance and pursue new market opportunities, as well as in Amazon’s potential to leverage its cloud computing strength and ecommerce capabilities toward meaningful growth in 2026.