(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can subscribe here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.)
Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO welcomes surprise turnaround announced this week by Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO Kraft-Heinz.
In the food business Publication of fourth quarter resultssaid Steve Cahillane since he joined the company five weeks ago, he “saw that the opportunity is greater than expected and that many of our challenges are fixable and within our control.”
As a result, he decided to “pause” work on the planned separation of Kraft and Heinz. which was announced last September. This would have essentially reversed the merger that Warren Buffett helped orchestrate in 2015.
Berkshire is KHC’s largest shareholder with a A 27.5% stake currently worth $8.1 billion.
In a statement given to CNBC and other media outlets, Berkshire CEO Greg Abel endorsed the change. “We support the decision by CEO Steve Cahillane and the Kraft Heinz Board of Directors, under Steve’s new leadership, to suspend work on the previously planned separation of the company. As a result, management can commit to strengthening Kraft Heinz’s ability to compete and serve its customers.
Characters from the Berkshire Hathaway Company’s Kraft Heinz booth pose with a reporter during the shareholder shopping day as part of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting weekend in Omaha, Nebraska, May 5, 2017.
Rick Wilking | Reuters
Buffett, who generally does not criticize the management of a Berkshire holding company, unusually expressed his disapproval when split plans have been made public more than five months ago.
On an off-camera phone call with CNBC’s Becky Quickhe said he was “disappointed” and did not rule out selling all or part of Berkshire’s stake.
“It certainly didn’t turn out to be a great idea to put them together, but I don’t think taking them apart is going to solve the problem.”
Just three weeks ago, Abel seemed to signal a sharp reduction of Berkshire’s KHC position with a SEC Registrationn for “the potential resale” of “up to” 99.9% of the 325.6 million shares it declared holding as of September 30.
Kraft Heinz’s decision to remain intact can help prevent these potential sales from becoming a reality.
Did Berkshire’s preparation for selling KHC shares play a role in Cahillane’s turnaround?
I certainly don’t know, but if that were the case, and if this was an intentional effort to pressure KHC, it would constitute a significant departure from Buffett’s long-standing hands-off policy when it comes to companies in Berkshire’s stock portfolio.
Kraft Heinz shares fell when the split reversal was announced Wednesday morning, but quickly rebounded to end the week with a slight gain of 0.7%.
Upcoming attractionsGreg Abel speaks at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 4, 2024.
CNBC
Longer term, Greg Abel’s first annual letter to shareholders will be released Saturday morning, February 28 around 8 a.m. ET (7 a.m. CT), according to a Berkshire Press Release.
The company’s annual report and fourth-quarter earnings release will be released at the same time, along with information about Berkshire’s May 2 shareholder meeting.
BUFFETT & BERKSHIRE AROUND THE INTERNETHIGHLIGHTS FROM CNBC’S BUFFETT ARCHIVESBook recommendations from Buffett and Munger (1994)
QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC: What were the three best books you read last year outside of investing? Why not – even one would be enough.
WARREN BUFFETT: I’ll give you — I’ll first praise a book that I’ve read but that’s not yet available. But it will be in September.
The woman who wrote it, I believe, is in the audience and it’s Biography of Ben Grahamwhich will be available in September, by Janet Lowe. And I read it and I think those of you who are interested in investments will definitely enjoy it. She did a good job capturing Ben.
One of the books that I really enjoyed was also written by a shareholder who is not here because he is being sworn in, I believe, today or tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, as head of Voice of America.
And it’s Geoff Cowan’s book, which is on “The People Against Clarence Darrow”This is the story of the trial of Clarence Darrow for jury bribery in Los Angeles circa 1912, when the McNamara brothers bombed the LA Times.
It’s a fascinating book. Geoff discovered a lot of information that previous Darrow biographies did not contain. I think you would enjoy this…
CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, I really enjoyed Connie Bruck’s biography Game Masterwhich was a biography of Steve Ross, who ran Warner and was later, what, co-chairman of Time Warner.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes, he is a little more than co-president. (Laughs)
CHARLIE MUNGER: Yes, and — she’s a very insightful writer and it’s a very interesting story.
I’m rereading a book that I really like, which is Van Doren’s biography of Benjamin Franklinreleased in 1952 [1938]and I had almost forgotten what a good book it was. And it’s available in paperback everywhere. We’ve never had anyone like Franklin in this country. Never again.
BERKSHIRE STOCKS WATCHFour weeks
Twelve months
BRK.A stock price: $751,425.00
BRK.B stock price: $497.55
BRK.BP/E (TTM): 15.91
Market capitalization of Berkshire: $1,076,049,449,409
Berkshire Cash as of September 30: $381.7 billion (up 10.9% from June 30)
Excluding rail cash and subtraction of Treasury bills payable: $354.3 billion (up 4.3% compared to June 30)
No Berkshire share buybacks since May 2024.
(All figures are as of publication date unless otherwise noted)
MAIN PARTICIPATIONS FROM BERKSHIRE – February 13, 2026Top holdings of Berkshire publicly traded stocks in the United States and Japan, by market value, based on latest closing prices.
The holdings are as of September 30, 2025, as shown in Berkshire Hathaway Filing 13F November 14, 2025, except:
Mitsubishiwhich is from August 28, 2025Mitsuiwhich is from September 30, 2025The complete list of stocks and current market values is available at CNBC.com. Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTSPlease send me any questions or comments regarding the newsletter at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don’t forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)
If you are not already subscribed to this newsletter, you can subscribe here.
Additionally, Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. He collected there here on the Berkshire website.
— Alex Crippen, editor-in-chief, Warren Buffett Watch
