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Image source: Getty Images.<\/p>\n
Berkshire’s had a succession plan for nearly 20 years<\/p>\n
Buffett’s longevity has been a blessing for Berkshire shareholders as it has given the company plenty of time to prepare for a successor. In some companies, resignations and retirements in the CEO<\/a> position can come without much warning, leaving a business in a sudden rush to fill it.<\/p>\n That can result in a less-than-ideal candidate. However, with Berkshire, succession plans have been in place since at least 2006. While they’ve likely changed over that time, this is clearly not an event that will catch the company unprepared.<\/p>\n Investors have also known since 2021 that it would be Abel who would likely be taking over the reins from Buffett<\/a>. Abel’s been with the business for over 25 years and is well prepared to take on the role as CEO in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n The odds are that, with plenty of time under Buffett’s wing, Abel’s approach won’t differ a lot from his predecessor’s. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be notable changes in Berkshire’s portfolio.<\/p>\n Why significant changes in the stock portfolio could be inevitable<\/p>\n Two investors could have the same investing strategy and approach, but also have different competencies, skills, and knowledge that draws them to different types of stocks. Abel, for instance, may target different companies than Buffett might, while still focusing on fundamentals<\/a>, competitive moat<\/a>, and other Buffett-like principles of investing.<\/p>\n Investors may have gotten a glimpse of that already when Berkshire disclosed a position in tech-giant Alphabet back in November. It wasn’t a typical Buffett move, as he usually avoids the sector. It was unclear who was behind the decision, but it was certainly a notable one.<\/p>\n While there have been tech stocks in Berkshire’s portfolio in the past, large tech purchases haven’t been the norm. And Alphabet has now become one of Berkshire’s largest holdings, accounting for a little less than 2% of its overall positions.<\/p>\n Apple remains the top holding at nearly 21%. While you might consider it a tech stock<\/a>, over the years, it has resembled more of a consumer goods company<\/a> focused on stable and consistent growth, rather than constant innovation. Alphabet may have been the first big change in Berkshire’s portfolio and could be a sign of things to come, including a greater focus on tech.<\/p>\n Is Berkshire still a good stock to own in 2026?<\/p>\n Berkshire’s stock is up 12% this year and trades at a price-to-earnings multiple<\/a> of 16, which isn’t high when compared to the S&P 500’s average of 26. It may trade at more of a discount once Buffett leaves, but I believe that over time, as Berkshire continues to perform well and Abel makes solid additions to the portfolio, it will lead to more of an increase in the company’s share price.<\/p>\n I’m also cautiously optimistic that under new leadership, the company may focus more on growth stocks and pivot away from slow-growing investments like Kraft Heinz, which has offered not much besides a dividend in recent years.<\/p>\n Overall, I see Berkshire’s stock continuing to be an excellent buy for not only next year but over the long term, as well. If it dips in value after Buffett leaves, that would simply make it an even more attractive investment to buy.<\/p>\n Should you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway right now?<\/p>\n Before you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway, consider this:<\/p>\n The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks<\/a> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Berkshire Hathaway wasn\u2019t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.<\/p>\n Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you\u2019d have $509,955!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you\u2019d have $1,089,460!*<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s worth noting Stock Advisor\u2019s total average return is 968% \u2014 a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.<\/p>\n See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n *Stock Advisor returns as of December 17, 2025. <\/p>\n David Jagielski, CPA<\/a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends Kraft Heinz. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Key Points Berkshire has had decades to work on a succession plan. Greg Abel has been learning under…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64560,64561,45,49,48,46,2640,2637,2636,2639,2638,2641,1837],"class_list":["post-352432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-berkshire-hathaway-cl-b","tag-brk-b","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy","tag-futures","tag-index-market-quote","tag-index-market-quotes","tag-index-market-symbol","tag-index-market-symbols","tag-indices","tag-the-globe-and-mail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}