In this article, we will take a look at Warren Buffett’s 10 Longest-Held Stocks.

Warren Buffett has cemented his legacy as Wall Street’s most successful investor. During the high-flying stock market of the 1960s, he leveraged his investment partnership to acquire Berkshire Hathaway, a struggling New England textile company at the time. Today, the firm is a vastly different entity, boasting a diverse range of businesses from Geico insurance to BNSF Railway, an equity portfolio exceeding $266 billion, and an enormous cash reserve of $325.2 billion. Decades of strong returns have built Buffett’s unmatched track record. Since he took over in 1965, the company’s shares have delivered an annualized gain of 19.8%.

Buffett has famously stated that his ideal holding period for a stock is “forever”. True to his word, the Oracle of Omaha has held onto some of his favorite stocks for the long haul, allowing them to deliver steady share performance and generate passive income for his portfolio over time. Moreover, market analysts and investors alike have consistently praised Buffett’s disciplined, long-term approach to investing, more so now that his firm has become the latest non-tech firm to surpass a $1 trillion market cap, highlighting Buffett’s stock-picking abilities.

However, despite strong market performance through much of 2024, Buffett seems to have adopted a more defensive stance. Concerned about inflated valuations amid high interest rates and worsening economic conditions, he has offloaded significant holdings in companies whose valuations have surged too high. Billionaire investor David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital echoed this in his hedge fund’s quarterly letter, noting Buffett’s cautious approach:

“One could argue that sitting out bear markets has been the underappreciated reason for his outstanding long-term returns. It is therefore noteworthy to observe that Mr. Buffett is again selling large swaths of his stock portfolio and building enormous cash reserves.”

Over the past two years, Buffett has been an active net seller of stocks. His firm offloaded a total of $36.1 billion in stocks during the third quarter, marking the eighth consecutive quarter in which Berkshire was a net seller of equities. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting in May, Buffett mentioned the possibility of a future rise in the corporate tax rate.

Moreover, in his 2023 letter, Buffett also addresses common questions about Berkshire, including whether the company can continue to achieve the same level of outperformance as in the past:

“There remain only a handful of companies in this country capable of truly moving the needle at Berkshire, and they have been endlessly picked over by us and by others. Some we can value; some we can’t. And, if we can, they have to be attractively priced. Outside the U.S., there are essentially no candidates that are meaningful options for capital deployment at Berkshire. All in all, we have no possibility of eye-popping performance. Nevertheless, managing Berkshire is mostly fun and always interesting. On the positive side, after 59 years of assemblage, the company now owns either a portion or 100% of various businesses that, on a weighted basis, have somewhat better prospects than exist at most large American companies.”

Our Methodology

To create our list of Warren Buffett’s longest-held stocks, we analyzed his Q3 2024 investment portfolio and selected stocks that he has consistently held for the longest duration. These figures were sourced from the Insider Monkey Database.

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10. Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)

Warren Buffett’s First Major Purchase: 2016

Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in Q3 2024: $914.5 million

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), a leading broadband and cable operator, provides services to both residential and commercial customers. While competition in the broadband market has slowed core subscriber growth, the company is finding success in rural areas due to a government initiative aimed at expanding broadband access and its push into mobile services.

Earlier this September, Citi upgraded its rating on Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) from a Sell to Neutral. While recent improvements in Charter’s operating performance contributed to the upgrade, the key factor was its current valuation. Citi’s note highlighted that while broadband and video volumes are still facing “headwinds,” the company’s evolving product mix is expected to “moderately improve EBITDA generation over the coming years.” Additionally, Charter’s cost-cutting initiatives have already delivered strong results.

At the start of October, the company teamed up with Comcast to offer its cable TV customers free access to the Peacock streaming service, aiming to retain users in an increasingly streaming-focused market. Moreover, in late September, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) explored a potential merger with Liberty Broadband to acquire Alaskan telecom leader GCI.

Parnassus Value Equity Fund stated the following regarding Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

“During the quarter, we added new positions in Pfizer, NICE and Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR). NICE is a leading cloud contact center software company. Charter’s stock had fallen due to near-term concerns, which we believe will not have a major impact on the long-term value of the business. Charter Communications has had several issues that created short-term uncertainty. We assessed that these issues have limited impacts on the long-term value of the business and initiated a position to take advantage of the stock’s historically low valuation.”

9. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Warren Buffett’s First Major Purchase: 2016 

Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in Q3 2024: $69.9 billion

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), a global leader in consumer electronics has been a key fixture in Warren Buffett’s portfolio for several years. However, recent filings from Berkshire Hathaway revealed that the firm sold approximately $14.34 billion worth of Apple shares in Q3 2024. Despite this, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) remains Buffett’s top holding, valued at almost $70 billion.

In Q3 of FY24, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) delivered one of its best performances in recent years, setting a June quarter revenue record of $85.8 billion, marking a 5% year-over-year increase. Product revenue grew 2% to $61.8 billion, fueled by the launch of the iPad Pro and iPad Air. Additionally, services revenue hit an all-time high of $24.2 billion, a 14% rise from the previous year.

On October 23, UBS reaffirmed its Neutral rating on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), keeping the price target at $236. The analyst projected that Apple’s September revenue and earnings per share would likely align with their estimates of $94 billion and $1.58, respectively. The iPad segment, though not the primary focus for investors, could deliver a positive surprise.

Despite the excitement around artificial intelligence (AI) following Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), iPhone sales for the September quarter remained steady, with about 46 million units sold year over year. Factoring in an additional 5 million units for iPhone channel fill, the total forecast for iPhone sales reaches 51 million units, with revenue from iPhones estimated at $45.7 billion.

Vltava Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“You probably have not missed the news that Warren Buffett has already sold half the stock from his largest public markets investment, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). It was a phenomenal investment for Berkshire. Over the course of seven years or so, it brought a profit of well over USD 100 billion. Apple comprised a very large position within Berkshire’s public portfolio, and this was the reason we avoided Apple stock outright during that time. We considered our exposure to Apple through our holdings of Berkshire stock to be sufficient, and we ended up making a lot of money on it. There has been a great deal of speculation in the market about what Buffett’s sale of Apple signals regarding his view of the stock market. I think the reason for the sale is much simpler. Buffett probably considers Apple stock so expensive that he prefers to cash in at 20% less (after all, Berkshire must pay tax on its profits). He started selling in the first quarter of the year. When I was in Omaha for the general meeting in May, Buffett said he was still selling, and I expect he continued to do so in the third quarter. I have to say that, as a Berkshire shareholder, I am happy about the Apple sale. I think Berkshire’s management will find a better use for this money, as they always have in the past. It is quite likely that they already have a very specific idea about this. If that takes two or three years, it does not matter at all. This is not a race and, in the meantime, the risk of holding Berkshire Hathaway stock itself has been greatly reduced.”