Bloomberg Intelligence – Berkshire Hathaway Slashes Amazon Stake

Podcast Summary – February 18, 2026
Hosts: Scarlet Fu, Paul Sweeney
Featured Guests: Matthew Palazzola (BI Senior Insurance Analyst), Ryan Vlastelka (Bloomberg News), Mandeep Singh (Bloomberg Intelligence), Randall Williams (Business of Sports Reporter)

Episode Overview

This Bloomberg Intelligence episode dives deep into Berkshire Hathaway’s major Q4 portfolio moves—including slashing its Amazon stake by 75%—and explores broader shifts in tech, sports business, and capital allocation strategies at flagship companies. Analyst Matthew Palazzola sheds light on Buffett's latest and perhaps last big investment decisions as CEO, the company's evolving approach to tech, and M&A possibilities. Additional segments discuss Apple's AI strategy, potential sports team sales, and tech industry updates with insights from Bloomberg's reporters.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Berkshire Hathaway’s Q4 Portfolio Moves

Buffett's Role in Recent Trades

• Matthew Palazzola confirms Q4 was “the last quarter where Warren Buffett was actively managing” investments as CEO, aligning these trades with his longstanding strategy, though noting, “He probably wasn't behind a lot of this anyway.”
• Palazzola emphasizes: “He remains chairman, so you never know. He’d be looming behind the scenes. But his last quarter as CEO…” (02:16)

Apple Position Trimming

• Buffett's investment in Apple—unusual given his “only investing in things that he understood” stance (Paul Sweeney, 02:40)—reflected seeing Apple as a “consumer company… more than anything else.”
• Palazzola notes the Apple sell-down is mainly a "tax reasons" play due to “huge unrealized gains that will be taxed” and speculation about “corporate tax rate could be higher” in the future (02:52).

Amazon Stake Slashed by 75%

• Berkshire took profits on Amazon—“cutting most of the position”—after lackluster outperformance: “I sold I believe like $1.7 billion worth of that stock… That one I think was probably company specific. Didn’t really outperform.” (Palazzola, 03:49)
• Contrasts with new tech bets: “They bought $4 billion of Alphabet last quarter. So… the kind of tech aversion, you know, may be changing over time.”

2. Strategic Increases: Chevron & Chubb

Chevron:

• Berkshire doubled down, making Chevron their fifth largest holding—possibly “reading the tea leaves” with geopolitical energy plays, especially as US intervention in Venezuela loomed (04:38).

Chubb:

• Increased stake leaves Berkshire as the “second largest holder.”
• Palazzola lauds Chubb: “Cream of the crop insurance company… Great management. It’s a company that Berkshire would want to own.”
• Signals potential for a major M&A (“phenomenally complementary”), though cultural hurdles and Chubb’s willingness come into play (04:38–06:30).

3. Acquisition Playbook & Dividend Debate

Acquisition Tactics:

• Berkshire is known for accumulating significant stakes before full buyouts (ala Burlington Northern), framing current speculation around Chubb and Occidental (06:30).

Dividends Post-Buffett:

• With Buffett stepping back and Greg Abel stepping in, questions arise on a long-awaited dividend.
• Palazzola: “I don’t think he’s going to come in and start breaking down walls… There’s so much money. We can’t put it to work in a reasonable way. So it would make sense to see something happen there.” (07:01)

4. Apple’s AI “Outlier” Status & Strategic Partnerships

Apple's Nasdaq Decoupling

• Apple’s correlation to the Nasdaq 100 has dropped to 0.21, lowest since 2006 (“as the company’s decision to mostly sit out the AI arms race has turned it into an outlier”—Scarlet Fu, 10:19).

Pros & Cons of Sitting Out the AI Arms Race

• Ryan Vlastelka explains Apple’s lack of heavy AI investment shields it from the market’s “AI-related volatility” and disruptive risks while still positioning Apple to be “the major way that people access AI services” via devices (10:51).
• “At the same time, Apple is probably going to be the major way that people access AI services… upside potential related to the technology without having to spend on it…” (Vlastelka).

Google AI Collaboration

• Apple’s recent multiyear partnership with Google/Alphabet “provid[es] the technology behind Apple’s AI, including Siri.” Seen as "relief" from heavy in-house AI R&D spend:

  "...people feel really relieved that they are going to be involved with AI… from a highly respected AI lab [Alphabet] without having to pay for it or develop their own.” (Vlastelka, 11:59)

5. Sports Business: MSG Sports & NFL Sale Talk

MSG Knicks & Rangers Split

• Randall Williams details speculation about splitting MSG Sports (Knicks & Rangers) to unlock value:

  “Knicks obviously are in a larger market… both… would carry a tremendous value, maybe $12 billion combined. And that’s on the low end.” (16:16)

• Ownership and control by James Dolan is the main barrier: “He decides for better, for worse. Yes, exactly. He decides, you know, what he wants to do.” (Williams, 17:41)

MSG Arena Significance

• MSG remains unparalleled for history and event hosting, bolstering its value.

Tax Reform Pressures

• Cited new tax law: from 2028, limits deduction per million-dollar-salaried employee, could make “negative free cash flow situation” unless teams succeed, adding urgency to address structure/ownership (19:36).

NFL: Seattle Seahawks On the Block

• Ownership trust ready to sell, with Williams predicting a “minimum $8 billion” valuation;

  “There’s not a lot of people who are willing to just write a two and a half billion dollar check in cash…” (Williams, 21:39)

6. Tech Industry Check-In

Meta x Nvidia Partnership

• Meta’s expanded commitment for Nvidia processors isn't “really new”—Meta is among Nvidia’s top two clients, showing the deep integration between giants for AI/data center scale (Mandeep Singh, 25:52).
• Nvidia’s CPU push: “will give you a better throughput, a better performance if you end up using our GPU cluster complement CPUs.”

Uber & the Future of Ride-Sharing

• Uber to invest $100m+ in robo-taxi charging.
• The scale difference is striking:

  “13 billion rides for Uber... Waymo did 20 million rides in the whole year.” (Singh, 27:21)

• Uber’s core advantage: low ETA (quick pickups) due to scale—core to consumer experience.

Global Penetration & China Market Threat

• Uber’s only major blank spot is China, where local giants (like Didi) and Chinese autonomous firms pose the real threat globally (29:00).

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Buffett’s Last Quarter as CEO:

  “This is actually the last quarter that you could even attribute these things to him. He remains chairman, so you never know. He’d be looming behind the scenes.” —Matthew Palazzola (02:16)

• On Apple & Tax Strategy:

  “We’ve got… tens of billions of dollars of unrealized gains that will be taxed. In 10 years from now, probably the corporate tax rate could be higher. That was his concern.” —Palazzola (02:52)

• On Chubb & Insurance M&A:

  “It would be phenomenally complementary of those two businesses… Chubb’s market cap is $130 billion. Berkshire has $300 billion of cash. So they theoretically could buy Chubb in cash if they wanted to.” —Palazzola (04:38)

• On Apple's Positioning in AI:

  “Apple is probably going to be the major way that people access AI services… upside potential …without having to spend on it the way companies like Microsoft or Alphabet or Meta are.” —Ryan Vlastelka (10:51)

• On Uber’s Market Dominance:

  “13 billion rides for Uber… Waymo did 20 million rides in the whole year.” —Mandeep Singh (27:21)

• On Madison Square Garden’s Uniqueness:

  “There’s no venue that has a greater history, I would argue, than Madison Square Garden that is still, you know, open and operational.” —Randall Williams (19:01)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Time | |--------------------------------------------|-----------| | Berkshire Hathaway’s Q4 Moves | 01:39-03:45| | Amazon stake reduction | 03:45-04:35| | Chevron & Chubb increases; M&A discussion | 04:35-06:38| | Post-Buffett dividend possibilities | 07:01-07:57| | Apple’s AI strategy & partnership | 10:19-12:38| | MSG Knicks/Rangers split, sports M&A | 15:30-20:32| | NFL Seahawks sale talk | 20:32-22:31| | Tech: Meta-Nvidia, Uber’s Robo-taxis | 25:22-29:45|

Summary in the Podcast's Tone

As always, the Bloomberg Intelligence team blends deep-dive analysis with up-to-the-minute Wall Street commentary, keeping things rapid, data-driven, and conversational—whether it's unraveling Buffett’s moves, mapping tech's next wave, or following big-money deals in sports. This week’s focus: seismic shifts in Berkshire’s portfolio, Apple’s deliberate AI strategy, and the unstoppable scale of Uber—all contextualized by the market’s biggest headlines.

For ongoing insights and in-depth coverage, listen to Bloomberg Intelligence live weekdays from 10AM to 12PM ET or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.