Warren Buffett says Alphabet is more likely to beat 90% to 95% of the stock picks Wall Street makes. The Berkshire Hathaway chairman made the rare endorsement on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday.

Alphabet (GOOGL) jumped 3.65% to $370.36 after the interview. Berkshire’s stake now tops $31 billion. Only Apple and American Express rank higher among its stock holdings.

Buffett Says the Alphabet Bet Was His Idea

For months, investors assumed new CEO Greg Abel was behind the bet. Buffett ended that debate in two words, telling interviewer Becky Quick, “I initiated.”

Still, he said Abel has the final word. Reportedly, the two talk every day and approve each other’s moves. Abel laid out Berkshire’s narrow AI plans at the shareholder meeting in May.

The position grew in three steps. Berkshire started buying in Q3 2025 and kept adding through early 2026. Then, in June, it bought $10 billion more in a private deal tied to Alphabet’s $80 billion AI raise.

Alphabet’s SEC filing shows Berkshire paid $351.81 per Class A share and $348.20 per Class C share.

Buffett also owned up to a miss. He said skipping Google in its early, cheaper-to-run years was a mistake.

Buffett Calls AI Spending ‘Real Money’

Buffett did not sugarcoat the risk. Alphabet alone plans $180 billion to $190 billion in capital spending this year, with more coming in 2027. That dwarfs what railroads ever spent, he noted, calling it “real money.”

The record he leans on is just as striking. Alphabet grew Q1 revenue 22% to $110 billion, and Google Cloud sales jumped 63%. It also generated $174 billion in operating cash flow over the past year, according to the same filing.

“…more likely to be a winner based on the record than they’re probably 90% or 95% of what gets merchandised through Wall Street, because Wall Street is interested in whether they can sell something,” Buffett said on CNBC.

However, the praise had limits. Buffett still likes at least four or five other Berkshire businesses more. He also took a shot at analysts, saying they obsess over the next quarter instead of real returns.

History gives his words extra weight. His last big tech swing, Apple in 2016, became Berkshire’s largest and most profitable holding. Alphabet also joined the Dow three weeks ago, while big money keeps rotating into stocks during the crypto winter.

Meanwhile, several billionaires picked Amazon as their top AI trade instead. Alphabet’s earnings later this month will test whether the Buffett bump holds.

Source: BeInCrypto