Smart money is quietly loading 5 stocks
Comparing the Q1 2026 13F window (reportDate 2026-03-31, filed by May 15) against Q4 2025 (reportDate 2025-12-31) across five funds — Berkshire, Bridgewater, Renaissance, Citadel, Two Sigma — produced 893 CUSIPs that survived the acceleration filter (net buyers > sellers AND ≥25% aggregate share growth OR ≥2 new opens). Five qualified once mega-cap, retail-overheat, and earnings-window exclusions were applied. The single most surprising finding: Berkshire Hathaway initiated a brand-new $2.65B / 39.8M-share position in Delta Air Lines under Greg Abel's first-quarter as CEO — Berkshire's first airline holding since Buffett liquidated all four legacy carriers in May 2020 and called them "a mistake." The corroborating signal is that all four scanned non-Berkshire managers simultaneously added American Airlines (Renaissance +570%, Citadel +34%, Two Sigma +12%, Bridgewater new), suggesting the smart-money rotation into airlines is a multi-fund thesis rather than a one-firm idiosyncrasy. Outside airlines, Berkshire tripled its NYT stake and added 43% to Lennar — both into stocks the sell-side currently rates Hold or worse. Hecla Mining rounds out the list as a four-fund silver/gold accumulation while UBS was cutting its silver forecast.
DAL
Delta Air Lines, Inc.Berkshire opened a 39.8M-share / $2.65B position in Delta — its first airline holding since Buffett dumped all four legacy carriers in May 2020 calling them a mistake. The reversal under Greg Abel signals a structural re-rating: premium-cabin revenue grew 14% YoY in Q1 2026 and loyalty revenue 10%, turning Delta from a commodity main-cabin operator into a brand-loyalty compounder with airline operating leverage attached. Citadel added 14% in parallel. The market reacted to the headline (+7.7% on May 20), but what retail hasn't yet repriced is that the premium/loyalty mix now exceeds 60% of revenue — a moat Buffett historically pays a multiple for. Catalyst: Q2 print Jul 9 with full-year premium-segment guidance.