Berkshire Hathaway Slashes Amazon Stake by 75% While Loading Up on NYT Shares

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway executed a dramatic portfolio shift in Q4 2025, slashing its Amazon stake by over 75% while simultaneously building a substantial position in The New York Times Company. Regulatory filings reveal Berkshire reduced its Amazon holdings from approximately 10 million shares to just 2.3 million shares during the quarter while acquiring 5.1 million NYT shares valued at approximately $352 million as of December 2025.

The Amazon divestment represents one of Berkshire's most significant position reductions in recent years. While the filing doesn't specify exact transaction prices, the move comes after Amazon shares endured a nine-day losing streak that erased over $450 billion in market value before rebounding 1.2% on Tuesday. Amazon's heavy capital expenditure plans - including a projected $200 billion spend in 2026 - have raised investor concerns about near-term profitability.

Conversely, the NYT investment establishes Berkshire as a major shareholder in the legacy media company. This acquisition follows NYT's successful transition to a digital-first subscription model, with its newsroom increasingly leveraging AI tools for content analysis and personalization. The market responded positively to Berkshire's vote of confidence, sending NYT shares up over 3% in pre-market trading following the filing disclosure.

Several strategic considerations likely influenced these moves:

1. Valuation Reassessment: Amazon's forward P/E ratio of 38.5 significantly exceeds the S&P 500 average of 21.3, potentially prompting Berkshire to lock in gains after Amazon's decade-long dominance
2. Media Transformation: NYT's digital subscription growth (surpassing 10 million paid subscribers in 2025) demonstrates successful adaptation to changing media consumption patterns
3. Cash Deployment Strategy: With Berkshire sitting on $157 billion in cash equivalents, the NYT investment represents Buffett's continued search for reasonably valued assets with durable competitive advantages

This portfolio shift aligns with Berkshire's historical preference for companies with pricing power and predictable cash flows. While Amazon remains a cloud computing leader through AWS, its retail margins face pressure from rising logistics costs and global expansion expenses. Meanwhile, NYT's subscription model provides recurring revenue visibility that Berkshire traditionally favors.

The transactions occurred against a backdrop of broader tech sector volatility. NVIDIA's Blackwell GPU shipments to companies like Meta and Yotta's $2 billion AI infrastructure investment highlight continued heavy spending in artificial intelligence infrastructure, while companies like Anthropic project $80+ billion in cloud computing expenses through 2029. Berkshire's selective positioning suggests a more cautious approach toward high-capex tech plays despite the industry's ongoing transformation.