Abel's Berkshire Portfolio: One Stock Stands Out as a Contrarian Bet

Greg Abel, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has reshaped the conglomerate's portfolio to reflect Warren Buffett's investment philosophy. The result is a concentrated position in eight stocks that make up 75% of the $365.2 billion public equity portfolio. These holdings include Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Alphabet, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, and Mitsubishi.

While all these core holdings have outperformed the S&P 500 except for American Express, which has produced a total return of less than 1% in the past year. This underperformance is attributed to the cost of attracting and retaining members through generous cardholder perks, as well as increased expenses and lower margins.

Despite these challenges, analysts believe that American Express' business model remains durable and its valuation attractive at 19.7 times trailing-12-month earnings.