The annual Buffett shareholders meeting is about to be held, which is a highly anticipated event for investors.

At this time of year, Buffett will share his insights on investment. This article will take stock of Buffett's stock holdings in 2023 and analyze changes in his portfolio to help you better understand Buffett's investment style and grasp industry trends.

Changes in Buffett's holdings

In 2023, the investment guru Buffett's biggest move was to increase his holdings in Occidental Petroleum in the US stock market and increase his holdings in the five major trading companies in the Japanese stock market.

Buffett's US stock holdings are mainly tracked through the 13F report, which is released quarterly.

The latest report was released in February 2024, reflecting Berkshire Hathaway's US stock holdings in Q4 2023.

From the latest report, it can be seen that Berkshire Hathaway held a total of 41 US stocks in the fourth quarter of last year, with the top ten holdings accounting for 93% of the entire investment portfolio.

The top ten heavy-weight stocks are: Apple, Bank of America, American Express, Coca-Cola, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, The Kraft Heinz, Moody's, Davita, and Citigroup.

Warren Buffett's friends are familiar with it, Warren Buffett has made substantial positions in Apple since 2016, with little change in his main holdings, and the only significant addition in recent years is Occidental Petroleum.

Since 2024, Warren Buffett's US stock holdings have performed averagely, even underperforming the S&P 500 index, mainly due to the decline in Apple's stock price, which has dropped by 11.95% since the beginning of the year.

At Futubull, you can track Warren Buffett's US stock holdings trends and related component stocks through the 'US Stock Concept Sector'.

In terms of Japanese stocks, Buffett mainly holds the five major Japanese trading companies. Buffett started building positions in Japanese stocks in 2020, added to them twice in 2023, and indicated the possibility of further increasing holdings in the future.

Japanese trading companies are relatively unique enterprises, integrating trade, commerce, finance, and information as large multinational companies, controlling the daily life of the Japanese people. The five companies held by Buffett are the oldest and largest in Japan's history, with investments covering multiple industries.

Although Warren Buffett's US stock holdings have performed averagely in 2024, his Japanese stock holdings have performed exceptionally well. Since the beginning of the year, the overall increase in the five major trading companies he holds has exceeded the Nikkei 225 index.

At Futubull, you can track Warren Buffett's US stock holdings trends and related component stocks through the 'Japanese Stock Concept Sector'.

The 7 major US stock companies favored by Buffett

1. Warren Buffett's largest holding: Apple (AAPL).

In 2016, Warren Buffett began significantly increasing his position in Apple. As of Q4 2023, Apple's market cap accounted for 50.19% of Berkshire Hathaway's U.S. holdings.

Although classified in the information technology sector, Buffett considers Apple more of a consumer stock. This is because Apple's various hardware products have formed an ecosystem that users rely on in their daily lives.

In Q4 2023, Buffett reduced his position in Apple, although the reduction was only 1%. Interestingly, following Buffett's reduction, Apple's stock price performed poorly, with a decline of 11.95% year-to-date, possibly due to weak earnings growth.

However, Apple recently announced that it will abandon its electric vehicle project and focus more resources on AI. This means the company is betting that AI can become its new growth engine.

2. Warren Buffett's second largest holding: Bank of America (BAC).

Buffett has always had a fondness for the banking industry, so bank stocks have always been an important part of Berkshire Hathaway's investment portfolio. Bank of America is currently Buffett's largest bank stock investment, with a holdings percentage of 10%.

In terms of asset size, Bank of America is the second largest bank in the United States, second only to JPMorgan.

In terms of shareholder returns, Bank of America has been increasing dividends over the past 5 years. In 2023, Bank of America's dividend per share is $0.92, a 7% increase from $0.86 in 2022.

3. Berkshire Hathaway's third largest holding stock: American Express (AXP)

American Express is a credit card giant in the United States, accounting for 8.18% of Berkshire Hathaway's stock holdings.

In the shareholder letter released in February of this year, Buffett praised American Express's main business as a good business because, like Coca-Cola, the company has widespread global recognition. These two companies have been punishing him for not increasing his holdings by increasing dividends and buying back shares.

In the fiscal year 2023, American Express had revenues of $60.363 billion, a 14.85% year-on-year increase, and a net income of $8.374 billion, an 11.45% year-on-year increase. In addition, the dividend per share in 2023 is $2.4, a significant 15% increase from $2.08 in 2022.

Since the beginning of the year, American Express has been one of Berkshire Hathaway's top performing stocks in the top ten American stock holdings, with an accumulated return of 26.58%.

4. Berkshire Hathaway's fourth largest holding stock: Coca-Cola (KO)

Coca-Cola is one of the longest-held stocks in Buffett's portfolio.

Although coca-cola's performance growth is not fast, the company has stable cash flow and dividends, making it a typical value stock.

In the 2023 fiscal year, Coca-Cola's revenue was $45.754 billion, a 6.39% year-on-year increase, with a net income of $10.703 billion, a 11.83% year-on-year increase.

In 2023, Coca-Cola's dividends per share reached $1.84, up 4.5% from $1.76 in 2022. Based on the closing price on April 26, Coca-Cola's TTM dividend yield reached 2.98%.

5. Buffett's fifth largest holding stock: Chevron (CVX)

Energy stocks have a high proportion in Buffett's US stock holdings, with Chevron being one of them.

Chevron is a comprehensive oil giant, with its industry coverage spanning petroleum exploration and production in the upstream, transportation and processing in the midstream, and processing and retail in the downstream.

However, Chevron's performance in 2023 was not very ideal. In the 2023 fiscal year, Chevron's revenue was $196.913 billion, a 16.46% year-on-year decrease, with a net income of $21.411 billion, a 39.87% year-on-year decline.

It is worth noting that in the first three quarters of 2023, Buffett has been reducing his holdings of Chevron's stock; however, in the fourth quarter, he began to increase his holdings of the stock again, currently accounting for 5.41% of Berkshire's US stock holdings.

6. Berkshire Hathaway's sixth largest holding: Occidental Petroleum (OXY)

Occidental Petroleum was one of Berkshire Hathaway's key increased holdings in 2023.

Unlike Chevron, Occidental Petroleum is mainly engaged in upstream petroleum exploration and development operations.

In 2023, Buffett continued to increase his holdings of Occidental Petroleum's stock, making it Buffett's sixth largest holding in the US stock market, accounting for 4.19%.

Buffett is bullish on Occidental Petroleum for two reasons: one is that the company may benefit from the continued rise in oil prices; the other is its strong free cash flow and generous shareholder returns.

Specifically, in 2023, Occidental Petroleum's free cash flow reached $5.5 billion, and share buybacks amounted to $1.8 billion.

7. Berkshire Hathaway's seventh largest holding: The Kraft Heinz (KHC)

Kraft Heinz is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, established in 2015 through the merger of Kraft and Heinz.

However, since 2018, the performance of Kraft Heinz's stock price has been disappointing. In an interview in February 2019, Buffett explicitly stated that they had paid excess capital when they invested in Kraft Heinz in 2015 and therefore suffered losses, but they had no intention of reducing their holdings of the stock.

As for shareholder returns, Kraft Heinz has not increased its dividends in the past 5 years, with a dividend per share of $1.6 in 2023. However, based on the closing price on April 26th, the TTM dividend yield of Kraft Heinz reached 4.19%, the highest among Buffett's top ten holdings.

Five Japanese companies held by Buffett

The five Japanese stock companies held by Buffett are Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co., Itochu Corp., Sumitomo Corp., and Marubeni Corp.

He started building positions in these Japanese stocks in 2020 and made two additional purchases in 2023. The potential reasons for Buffett's investment in Japanese stocks may be that they are undervalued and have better corporate governance.

After Abenomics, Japan has introduced better corporate governance standards for listed companies, focusing more on capital efficiency, improved ROE, and increased shareholder returns.

1. Mitsubishi Corp. (8058.JP)

Mitsubishi Corp. is the largest company among the five companies, with its main businesses including oil, natural gas, mineral resources (iron ore, aluminum), Japan's infrastructure, automobiles, and food. Among them, oil and natural gas account for the largest proportion of their business.

In terms of performance, Mitsubishi Corporation's total revenue for the fiscal year 2023 was 21.57 trillion yen, a year-on-year increase of 24.95%. Net income was 0.127 billion yen, an increase of 26.59% year-on-year.

In terms of shareholder returns, Mitsubishi Corporation declared a dividend of 60 yen per share for the year 2023, a 20% increase from 2022. Year-to-date, Mitsubishi Corporation's stock price has surged by 56.6%.

2. Mitsui & Co. (8031.JP)

Mitsui & Co. is a comprehensive trading company with primary business operations focused on coal, iron ore, crude oil, natural gas, and other resource sectors.

In terms of performance, Mitsui & Co.'s total revenue for the fiscal year 2023 was 14.31 trillion yen, a year-on-year increase of 21.68%. Net income was 0.115 billion yen, an increase of 23.14% year-on-year.

In terms of shareholder returns, Mitsui & Co. declared a dividend of 140 yen per share for the year 2023, a 33% increase from 2022. Year-to-date, Mitsui & Co.'s stock price has surged by 41.92%.

3. Itochu Corporation (8001.JP)

Itochu Corporation's main business operations are primarily in the fields of food, fibers, metals, energy, and chemicals, with food and energy being the largest segments.

In terms of performance, Itochu Corporation's total revenue for the fiscal year 2023 was 13.95 trillion yen, a year-on-year increase of 13.44%. Net income was 844.681 billion yen, a year-on-year decrease of 3.9%.

In terms of shareholder returns, Itochu Corporation's dividend per share for the year 2023 was 140 yen, a 27% increase from 2022. Year-to-date, Itochu Corporation's stock price has risen by 19.61%.

4. Sumitomo Corporation (8053.JP)

Sumitomo Corporation's main business is in the fields of construction machinery, metal, chemicals, media, etc.

In terms of performance, Sumitomo Corporation's total revenue for the fiscal year 2023 was 6.82 trillion yen, a year-on-year increase of 24%. Net income was 599.088 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 23.63%.

In terms of shareholder returns, Sumitomo Corporation's dividend per share for the year 2023 was 115 yen, a 4.5% increase from 2022. Year-to-date, Sumitomo Corporation's stock price has risen by 27.08%.

5. Marubeni Corporation (8002.JP)

Marubeni Corporation's main business is in the fields of electrical utilities, lifestyle, raw materials, etc.

In terms of performance, Marubeni's total revenue for the fiscal year 2023 was 9.19 trillion yen, an 8% year-on-year increase. Net income was 552.8 billion yen, a 27.1% year-on-year increase.

In terms of shareholder returns, Marubeni paid a dividend of 78 yen per share in 2023, an increase of 25.8% from 2022. From 2024 to present, Marubeni's stock price has increased by 21.43%.

Written at the end.

Based on Buffett's investment portfolios in the US and Japanese stock markets, it can be seen that he has a common characteristic in his focus on selected investment companies, which is that these companies can provide stable and sustained shareholder returns (including dividends and share buybacks).

However, relying solely on his holdings for investment decisions is not enough. Even top investors like Buffett may make mistakes. Instead, by observing Berkshire Hathaway and Buffett's investment methods over the long term, we have the opportunity to learn from their investment thinking and strategy. This kind of learning is more important than simply imitating their trades.

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Risk disclosure: This content does not constitute a research report, is for reference only, and should not be used as a basis for any investment decisions. The information involved in this article is not a comprehensive description of the securities, markets, or developments mentioned. Although the information source is considered reliable, the accuracy or completeness of the above content is not guaranteed. In addition, no guarantee is given for any statements, opinions, or forecasts provided in this article.