Warren Buffett has made one other notable portfolio transfer, slashing Berkshire Hathaway’s Amazon stake by greater than 77% whereas additionally opening a brand new place in The New York Occasions. The shift reveals Buffett persevering with to rotate away from some massive tech holdings and into what seems like a extra selective mixture of media and conventional companies.
The Amazon sale is the headline transfer. Berkshire lowered its holdings to roughly 2.3 million shares after first constructing the place in 2019, a pointy reversal for an organization that after seen Amazon as one in all its most attention-grabbing large-cap bets.
In response to the most recent submitting, as reported by The Motley Idiot, Berkshire trimmed its Amazon place by greater than 75% within the quarter, leaving the stake price solely a small fraction of the agency’s general portfolio. The discount seems to be a part of a broader reshuffling of Berkshire’s fairness ebook relatively than a one-off commerce.
That issues as a result of Amazon had represented one in all Buffett’s extra stunning modern-era investments.
He had lengthy stated he regretted not shopping for the inventory earlier, so a big discount suggests the thesis has modified, the valuation has grow to be much less enticing, or Berkshire merely prefers different alternatives proper now.
It additionally matches a broader sample. Berkshire has been trimming different massive holdings, too, together with Apple and Financial institution of America, which suggests Buffett has been steadily decreasing focus in a few of his largest positions.
On the similar time, Berkshire initiated a brand new place in The New York Occasions price about $351.7 million, or roughly 5.1 million shares. That makes the newspaper firm one of many extra attention-grabbing new additions to Berkshire’s public portfolio.
The transfer is notable as a result of Buffett as soon as known as the newspaper trade “toast,” The Motley Idiot famous, after Berkshire exited its newspaper possession years in the past. Shopping for into The New York Occasions now suggests he sees one thing totally different within the trendy digital model of the enterprise.
That’s the actual story right here. Berkshire will not be backing the previous print mannequin; it’s backing an organization that has turned itself right into a scaled subscription and digital media platform.
The New York Occasions generated roughly $551 million in free money movement, the type of efficiency that issues to Warren Buffett-style investing.Blue/Getty Pictures
The numbers inform many of the story. The New York Occasions ended 2025 with 12.8 million whole subscribers after including 1.4 million internet new digital subscribers in the course of the yr, in response to Yahoo Finance. That places it on tempo to hit its said purpose of 15 million subscribers by the top of 2027.
Digital income crossed $2 billion for the primary time in 2025. Digital subscription income grew roughly 14% for the yr, whereas digital promoting jumped 20%, Proactive reported.
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Adjusted working revenue grew greater than 20% to $550 million, and the corporate generated roughly $551 million in free money movement.
That type of efficiency issues to Buffett-style investing as a result of it reveals pricing energy and recurring income.
An organization that may continue to grow subscribers and lift costs with out destroying demand begins to look much less like a fading media enterprise and extra like a sturdy shopper platform.
The Occasions had 12.8 million whole subscribers at year-end 2025, up by 1.4 million internet new digital subscribers within the yr, in response to Proactive.
Complete digital income surpassed $2 billion for the primary time in 2025, GuruFocus reported.
It generated free money movement of roughly $551 million in 2025, GuruFocus famous.
Adjusted working revenue grew greater than 20% to $550 million in 2025, The Occasions’ This autumn 2025 earnings report confirmed.
The corporate’s trusted model and unique journalism place it as a resilient asset as AI-generated content material turns into extra widespread, in response to The Motley Idiot.
Analysts at The Motley Idiot additionally pointed to The Occasions’ rising video journalism push as one other long-term draw.
CFO Will Bardeen stated in the course of the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings name that “video specifically stays an essential space of strategic funding,” including that the corporate is “assured in our capability to generate sturdy returns” because it expands that channel, Motley Idiot famous.
In that sense, Berkshire’s funding seems much less like a guess on journalism itself and extra like a guess on a high-quality digital subscription asset with a number of income streams and sturdy money movement.
Amazon’s inventory stays one of many market’s most essential long-term progress tales, however it is usually a really totally different type of asset than The New York Occasions. It’s bigger, extra complicated, and extra uncovered to competitors, logistics strain, and altering shopper demand.
Berkshire could merely be taking earnings after a powerful run. Or it could consider that the upside from Amazon is now much less compelling than the upside from different names with stronger present money movement or less complicated economics.
Both approach, the discount reveals Berkshire will not be married to anybody high-profile tech commerce. Even a inventory Buffett as soon as admired sufficient to purchase will be reduce aggressively if the chance set adjustments.
Buffett has all the time been prepared to alter his thoughts when the information change. That appears to be what is occurring right here: Amazon should still be an ideal enterprise, however Berkshire seems to assume different alternatives supply a greater steadiness of threat, reward, and money technology proper now.
The New York Occasions buy can be a reminder that Buffett doesn’t keep away from media solely. He’s merely extra enthusiastic about companies which have proven they will survive the digital shift and create predictable money movement.
That’s the reason the commerce is being interpreted as a strategic rotation relatively than a serious thematic pivot. Berkshire continues to be shopping for high quality, simply in a distinct a part of the market.
This transfer comes as Berkshire has additionally been lively elsewhere, together with in Chevron and Chubb, which suggests the agency is constant to steadiness its portfolio throughout sectors relatively than chase one theme too arduous.
That’s traditional Buffett habits: keep opportunistic, keep affected person, and hold shifting capital towards what seems most compelling on a risk-adjusted foundation.
The newest submitting additionally reveals how a lot Berkshire has advanced. It’s nonetheless a value-investing big, however its portfolio now consists of a mixture of old-economy money mills, choose tech publicity, and digital companies that will have been arduous to think about in earlier many years.
Buffett’s Amazon sale and New York Occasions buy present that Berkshire continues to be prepared to make sharp, significant adjustments when it sees a greater alternative. The message will not be that Amazon is a nasty firm; it’s that Buffett now not sees it as one of the best use of Berkshire’s capital.
On the similar time, The Occasions funding suggests he sees worth in companies which have efficiently tailored to the digital period and might nonetheless produce dependable money movement.
That mixture makes this submitting traditional Buffett. Promote the place the margin of security seems thinner, purchase the place the enterprise mannequin seems sturdy, and hold the portfolio shifting towards high quality.
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