Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway portfolio includes Apple, American Express, and Coca-Cola

Warren Buffett, the longtime CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, built the company’s equity portfolio around a simple philosophy: “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” With Buffett retired and Greg Abel now leading Berkshire Hathaway, Abel has said the company plans no immediate changes to its structure or its key investments.

Apple: a wide-moat holding with a large portfolio weight

Berkshire Hathaway owns a 1.6% stake in Apple, valued at approximately $56.4 billion. The position represents 18.1% of Berkshire’s portfolio and is the company’s largest equity holding.

The article notes that Apple is viewed as a wide-moat business because competitors have difficulty matching customer loyalty tied to products such as the iPhone, as well as the stickiness of Apple’s ecosystem.

Apple trades at 32 times forward earnings estimates. The article suggests that despite a potentially more than fair price, steady earnings growth, a commitment to share repurchases, and a modest but growing 0.4% forward dividend yield could support consistent total returns over a multidecade horizon.

American Express: brand strength and customer ecosystem

American Express is another long-standing Berkshire holding, described as similar to Apple in that its strength is tied to brand and customer loyalty. The article says American Express’ ecosystem helps monetize its customer base and supports steady, consistently growing profits even in tougher economic periods.

Over the past 35 years, American Express has outperformed the S&P 500 by a wide margin, though the article notes the S&P 500 has outperformed more recently. It cites continued resilience among affluent customers and robust demand for American Express ecosystem products from millennial and Gen Z consumers as factors supporting future performance.

Shares trade at 19 times forward earnings estimates, which the article characterizes as within the stock’s historic valuation range. The forward dividend yield is 1.3%, and the article states that dividends have grown at a double-digit pace annually for more than a decade, implying dividends could contribute an increasing share of total returns.

Coca-Cola: Berkshire’s long-running dividend focus

Berkshire Hathaway has held Coca-Cola since the late 1980s/early 1990s and currently owns 9.3% of the beverage company. The stake accounts for roughly 9.7% of Berkshire’s overall stock portfolio.

In long-term performance, the article says Coca-Cola’s total returns have been broadly in line with the S&P 500. Since Berkshire began buying Coca-Cola in early 1988, Coca-Cola shares have delivered total returns of 3,580%, compared with 3,700% for the S&P 500.

The article attributes Coca-Cola’s steadier contribution to its dividend strategy. It describes Coca-Cola as a “Dividend King” with 64 consecutive years of annual dividend growth. The forward dividend yield is 2.8%, and dividend growth has averaged about 4.5% annually over the past decade.

Impact for long-term investors

The article frames these holdings as examples of Buffett-style investing—emphasizing durable businesses and shareholder returns. It also notes that Berkshire uses dividend income from positions such as Coca-Cola to help fund new investments, suggesting investors could similarly use dividend income in their own long-term portfolios.