Warren Buffett Dumped Shares of Amazon, Apple, and Bank of America, and Added One Brand-New Stock in His Final Quarter Before Retirement

By Sean Williams – Feb 17, 2026 at 7:46PM ESTKey PointsForm 13Fs allow investors to track which stocks Wall Street's savviest money managers are buying and selling.Warren Buffett, who retired as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway on Dec. 31, closed out his tenure by overseeing significant selling in Amazon, Apple, and Bank of America.However, Buffett went out with a bang by purchasing over 5 million shares of a potential black-and-white bargain.These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›NYSE: NYTThe New York Times Co.Market Cap$12BToday's Changeangle-down(1.30%) $0.95Current Price$73.89Price as of February 17, 2026 at 3:58 PM ETThe Oracle of Omaha's final quarter as Berkshire Hathaway CEO revealed more significant net selling activity, and one curious $352 million purchase.Data is the fuel that keeps Wall Street running -- and few announcements are more telling than the quarterly filing of Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A 13F provides investors with a road map of the stocks that Wall Street's savviest money managers bought and sold in the latest quarter. The latest round of 13Fs features the last trading activity from Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA +0.46%)(BRKB +1.04%) Warren Buffett, who retired as CEO on Dec. 31, 2025. In his final quarter before retirement, the Oracle of Omaha dumped shares of Amazon (AMZN +1.19%), Apple (AAPL +3.12%), and Bank of America (BAC +0.23%), and made a brand-new $352 million addition to Berkshire's portfolio. Warren Buffett stepped down as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO on Dec. 31, 2025. Image source: The Motley Fool. The net selling continued up until retirement Based on Berkshire's 13F, Buffett and his team were net sellers of stocks during the fourth quarter. This means he sold more stocks than he purchased for 13 consecutive quarters (since Oct. 1, 2022), leading up to his retirement. During the fourth quarter, Buffett oversaw the sale of: 7,724,000 shares of Amazon 10,294,956 shares of Apple 50,774,078 shares of Bank of America The sizable reduction in Amazon lowered Berkshire's stake by 77%. Meanwhile, Buffett oversaw a 75% haircut in his company's Apple stake since Sept. 30, 2023, and a 50% cut in the Bank of America stake since the midpoint of 2024. While a historically low (and now-permanent) peak marginal corporate income tax rate likely incentivized some selling activity in Apple and BofA, the prevailing theme of this selling looks to be valuation. ExpandNASDAQ: AAPLAppleToday's Change(3.12%) $7.98Current Price$263.76Key Data PointsMarket Cap$3.8TDay's Range$255.55 - $266.2852wk Range$169.21 - $288.62Volume2.2MAvg Vol49MGross Margin47.33%Dividend Yield0.41% For instance, when Buffett initially purchased Apple shares in the first quarter of 2016, the stock traded at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio in the low-to-mid teens. But following several years of subpar physical device growth, it now sports a trailing 12-month P/E ratio of 33. It's a similar story for Bank of America.

When Berkshire Hathaway provided $5 billion in financial backing in the summer of 2011 in exchange for $5 billion in preferred stock, BofA common stock was trading at a 62% discount to its book value. Its shares are now valued at a 37% premium to book. Lastly, Amazon has never been inexpensive by traditional valuation metrics. Although it's historically cheap, relative to the consensus cash flow estimate for 2027, Berkshire's now-retired investing legend has been leery of sky-high valuations on Wall Street. Image source: Getty Images. The Oracle of Omaha goes out with a $352 million bang Although a handful of existing holdings were added to during Buffett's final quarter, the purchase that really stands out is The New York Times Co. (NYT +1.30%). Berkshire's 13F shows 5,065,744 shares were scooped up, worth nearly $352 million on Dec. 31. Warren Buffett has long been a fan of brand-name companies that have built consumer trust.

The New York Times brand, coupled with its modest dividend and steady stream of share buybacks, laid a solid foundation. ExpandNYSE: NYTThe New York Times Co.Today's Change(1.30%) $0.95Current Price$73.89Key Data PointsMarket Cap$12BDay's Range$72.80 - $74.5652wk Range$44.83 - $74.59Volume136KAvg Vol2.1MGross Margin47.80%Dividend Yield0.99% Furthermore, digital subscriptions for The New York Times continue to climb (12.78 million, as of Dec. 31). With strong pricing power lifting average revenue per user and double-digit growth in digital advertising providing a boost, The New York Times appear to be firing on all cylinders. Perhaps the one question mark is valuation. Buffett, who's demonstrated a willingness to sit on his hands until stock valuations made sense, paid an aggressive forward P/E of 24 for The New York Times stock.Read NextDec 24, 2025 •By Adé HennisThe Best Media Stock to Buy With $100 Right NowDec 2, 2025 •By Jeremy BowmanWhy The New York Times Company Stock Gained 13% in NovemberOct 10, 2025 •By Motley Fool YouTubeThe New York Times: A Strong Player in a Weak Industry?Sep 25, 2025 •By Jeremy BowmanBetter Stock to Buy: Newsmax vs.

The New York TimesAug 8, 2025 •By Eric VolkmanWhy The New York Times Company Stock Was Winning This WeekAug 6, 2025 •By Jeremy BowmanWhy The New York Times Co.

Stock Jumped TodayAbout the AuthorSean Williams is a data-driven Motley Fool contributing analyst who's been investing for 27 years and has penned north of 15,000 articles. You'll find him at the intersection of politics and investing tackling macroeconomic topics of interest (Social Security and Donald Trump's economic/tax policies), analyzing which stocks billionaire investors (e.g., Warren Buffett) are buying and selling, and digging into how the world's most-influential businesses and trends -- everything from the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) to the next stock split -- are changing Wall Street. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.TMFUltraLongX@AMCScamStocks MentionedThe New York Times Co.NYSE: NYT$73.89 (+1.30%) $+0.95Berkshire HathawayNYSE: BRKA$754910.00 (+0.46%) $+3485.01Berkshire HathawayNYSE: BRKB$503.41 (+1.18%) $+5.86Bank of AmericaNYSE: BAC$52.67 (+0.23%) $+0.12AppleNASDAQ: AAPL$263.76 (+3.12%) $+7.98AmazonNASDAQ: AMZN$201.16 (+1.19%) $+2.37*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.