Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) added shares of e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) to its closely followed $210 billion stock portfolio during the first quarter of 2019, according to CEO Warren Buffett, who recently disclosed the new holding to CNBC. While Buffett has spoken favorably about Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos several times, the Oracle of Omaha never pulled the trigger on adding Amazon's stock to his portfolio. Now that Amazon is officially a Berkshire Hathaway stock holding, here's what we know (and what we don't know) about the investment. Berkshire buys Amazon: What we know First of all, it's important to emphasize that Warren Buffett did not make the Amazon investment. It was made by one of Berkshire's other two investment managers, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs. Each of them manages about $13 billion of Berkshire's investment portfolio, and Buffett has emphasized before that they both do so independently. In fact, Buffett has said that he often doesn't find out about the moves made by the two men until well after the fact. But we do know that Buffett is a fan of Amazon. He's said before that he regrets not buying the stock a long time ago, stating that he failed to recognize the company's potential. He's also a fan of Jeff Bezos, and has a nice relationship with him through Berkshire's joint healthcare venture, Haven, with Amazon and JPMorgan Chase. We also know that Berkshire Hathaway stock has lagged the broader market this year. Shares are up 6.6% in 2019, compared with the S&P 500's nearly 18% gain. What we don't know Details are admittedly light at this point, and there are two big pieces of the puzzle we don't know. First, we have no idea how much Amazon stock Berkshire owns. It could be a few million dollars' worth, which would be a drop in the bucket for Berkshire, or it could be in the billions. We simply don't know yet. Second, and most important, we have no idea why one of Buffett's investment lieutenants decided to buy Amazon. Did they think Amazon was a cheap value investment? Did they buy it because they feel it still has lots of room to grow? The answers to these questions are a big part of the story. When we'll find out more In light of the new revelation that Amazon is a part of Berkshire's portfolio, it's not unreasonable to expect a question or two about the e-commerce giant at Berkshire's annual meeting this weekend. Having said that, don't expect Buffett to reveal too much more information. After all, he generally doesn't discuss specific reasons Berkshire makes its investments, and the Amazon investment wasn't his in the first place. It's more likely that the next time we'll learn some more details is when Berkshire releases its first-quarter 13F filing in mid-May. This document gives a snapshot of the stock portfolio at the end of the first quarter and will let us know exactly how many shares Berkshire had as of March 31. This will be a key number to watch. Since Weschler and Combs each manage roughly $13 billion of Berkshire's money, an initial investment of hundreds of millions (typical for the pair) would say one thing, while a multibillion-dollar investment would convey tremendous confidence in the stock.<doc-sep>Someone at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has been buying stock in Amazon.com Inc., but “it wasn’t me,” Warren Buffett says. Speaking Thursday to CNBC, the billionaire founder and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A, +0.12% BRK.B, +0.05% said: “One of the fellows in the office that manage money ... bought some Amazon, so it will show up” in a filing later this month. Amazon shares AMZN, +0.19% surged 2.3% in premarket trade Friday. That puts them on track to snap a four-day losing streak, following last Friday’s close at a 6 1/2-month high. That suggests the purchases were made by Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, who run their portfolios independently of Buffett. He did not say how many shares the investing company bought. Buffett and his company are well known for buying value stocks, and many investors keep a close eye on the companies he invests in. 5 Things You Need to Know Before Berkshire Hathaway's Annual Meeting Buffett has previously praised Amazon, but had not personally bought in — largely because he says it’s out of his area of expertise. He still hasn’t bought any personally, he told CNBC, though he acknowledged he probably should have at some point. “I’ve been a fan, and I’ve been an idiot for not buying,” Buffett said. “But I want you to know it’s no personality changes taking place.” Last year, Berkshire, Amazon and JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, -0.01% launched a joint venture to improve health care for their employees. While he’s not into Amazon, Buffett isn’t averse to big tech stocks. Berkshire took its first position in Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.04% in 2016, and eventually built up a 5% stake in the tech giant, which was worth almost $60 billion as of September 2018. That stake has since been reduced — the company trimmed its Apple holdings by 1%, or about 2.89 million shares, in the December-ended quarter, and Buffett said in February that he hasn’t been buying shares. Buffett will speak at Berkshire’s annual meeting Saturday in Omaha, Neb., where he will present his always-anticipated annual letter to shareholders. Read:This investor’s pilgrimage to Berkshire’s annual meeting is about more than Buffett<doc-sep>There will be no coasting into the weekend, with Friday looking like a kitchen-sink kind of day for investors. What we lack in big earnings news, with the bulk now past us, we’ll make up with data as big U.S. jobs numbers roll in, stronger than forecast, and then later we’ll get an ark full of Fed speakers. On Saturday, we’ll get Berkshire Hathaway’s US:BRK US:BRK annual meeting, and a chance to tap into the thinking of an all-time investing legend, the conglomerate’s billionaire chief executive and chairman Warren Buffett. Opinion:This investor’s pilgrimage to Berkshire’s annual meeting is about more than Buffett The so-called Sage of Omaha has already been busy, with Amazon US:AMZN up after he told CNBC late Thursday that “one of the fellows in the office that manages money... bought some” shares of the e-commerce giant. While Buffett himself didn’t push the button on that trade, he admitted being “a fan” and ”an idiot for not buying” the e-commerce giant before. Our call of the day, from Byron Lotter, portfolio manager at South African-based Vestact Asset Management, says Berkshire’s latest move holds an important lesson for investors, given the company has traditionally focused on value-oriented companies — stocks that tend to trader cheaper than fundamentals would warrant — and Amazon’s share price is fairly eye-popping. “Look forward, don’t look back at what the share price has done. Looking at the company’s history is important, and just because it’s gone up and it’s done incredibly well, don’t let that deter you from buying a share,” Lotter told MarketWatch, in a telephone interview on Friday. He said if Berkshire isn’t scared off by the fact Amazon shares trade at $1,900 each, neither should investors get intimidated by a share price, and sit on the sidelines because they think they’ve missed out. “Investors think that because a share is trading at an all-time high and has a market cap of a trillion dollars, Berkshire wouldn’t be buying Amazon,“ he said. “When we were buying (Amazon) at $350 we thought it was high.” Shares of Amazon, Vestact’s third-biggest holding have gained roughly 100% (ex-dividend) over 2 years, 517% over 5 years, 2,307% over 10 years and 2,109% over 20 years, according to FactSet. “There’s still huge potential for this company. You have to look at where you think the company is going. Cloud services is in its infancy and so is online retail,” said Lotter. He’s also a fan of Google parent Alphabet Inc. US:GOOG US:GOOGL, which has seen a rough ride this week on disappointing earnings.“Google is growing at an expected 20% per annum, trading at 19 times earnings. In my opinion, it’s offering a lot of value.” And another lesson from the Sage of Omaha? It also may be time for value investors to change their thinking a little. Berkshire has long stuck to companies that are considered less risky, with slow and steady growth, like American Express and Coca-Cola. That’s as opposed to growth stocks, companies with strong momentum like Amazon and Apple, which Berkshire also dipped into back in 2017 for the first time. Both those stocks though, have value qualities, argues Lotter. “In this day and age, with so much information out there, and markets so transparent and liquid, if you stay in that deep-value box, you’re going to miss out and underperform the markets ,” said Lotter. “Gone are the days when you can find a quality company that has good potential trading at 10 times earnings.” Read: At Milken Conference, investors place their late-cycle bets The market The Dow US:DJIA , S&P 500 US:SPX and Nasdaq Composite US:COMP are powering higher, thanks to jobs data. Read more in Market Snapshot. The dollar US:DXY is up, along with gold US:GCU8 and crude US:CLU8 is also up. Oil logged the lowest finish in a month on Thursday. Europe stocks XX:SXXP are mostly higher as a batch of companies report. Asian equities had a cautious session, with China and Japan stocks still out for a holiday. The economy U.S. payrolls for April jumped 263,000, better than forecast, and the jobless rate hit a 49-year low, while hourly wages rose. After that, the Markit services purchasing managers index, the Institute for Supply Management’s nonmanufacturing index. As for Fed speakers, the day starts with a speech from Chicago Fed President Charles Evans in Sweden. Then an all-day conference at the Hoover Institute will feature appearances by Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida and these Fed presidents—New York’s John Williams, St. Louis’s James Bullard, San Francisco’s Mary Daly and Dallas’s Rob Kaplan. Read: Mortgage rates tumble as one economist waves the white flag The chart Jesse Felder, of The Felder Report says investors have been shying away from riskier sectors of the stock market, and that could mean this year’s rally could prove unsustainable. Here’s his chart and our chart of the day: The chart stacks up the S&P 500 and a custom index Felder made to track sector preferences. When investors are embracing riskier sectors, that red line moves up, though those lines have been diverging this year. He said that also happened at the stock market’s top in 2007 and at last summer’s new high. The buzz Wild about non-meat. Plant-based meat maker Beyond Meat US:BYND is up another 13% after shares soared 163% in its Wall Street debut on Thursday, the biggest IPO pop since 2000. Read:5 things to know about Chinese Starbucks competitor Luckin Coffee ahead of its IPO Facebook US:FB is building a cryptocurrency-based payments system, says The Wall Street Journal, citing sources. In Europe, banking giant bank HSBC US:HSBC posted a strong first quarter. Sportswear maker Adidas DE:ADS topped forecasts and shares are flying high in Frankfurt. In the U.S., earnings news is slowing to a trickle. U.S. Steel US:X shares are up on profit news, while shares of travel group Expedia US:EXPE and videogame publisher Activision US:ATVI are down on disappointing results. Rubbermaid maker Newell Brands US:NWL, satellite provider Dish Networks US:DISH and hydrocarbon exploration group Noble Energy US:NBL are reporting Friday. The stat Getty Images 9.1% — That marked the first-quarter return for Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, marking the best-ever quarter for the biggest such fund in the world. The Government Pension Fund Global is managed by Norges Bank, which credited a strong bounce for global stocks to that hefty gain, specifically tech stocks. Random reads Death toll from Christchurch mosque attacks rises to 51 after Turkish man succumbs to injuries weeks later A million people flee cyclone Fani in eastern India Professional gambler’s winning streak is now second-longest in “Jeopardy!” history Heart doctor on why too little sleep can kill you Speaking of Buffett, check out what Berkshire’s vice-chairman Charlie Munger had to say (a lot) about architecture Tributes pour in for ‘Star Wars’ Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew, dead at 74 Need to Know starts early and is updated until the opening bell, but sign up here to get it delivered once to your email box. Be sure to check the Need to Know item. The emailed version will be sent out at about 7:30 a.m. Eastern. Follow MarketWatch on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.<doc-sep>
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 12: U.S. President Donald Trump departs on the South Lawn of the White House, on December 12, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump is traveling to the Army versus Navy Football Game at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images) A Tesla car charges at a Tesla Supercharger station on April 26, 2021 in Corte Madera, California. Tesla will report first quarter earnings today after the closing bell. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) An Amazon.com Inc. delivery driver carries boxes into a van outside of a distribution facility on February 2, 2021 in Hawthorne, California. Jeff Bezos said February 1, 2021, he would give up his role as chief executive of Amazon later this year as the tech and e-commerce giant reported a surge in profit and revenue in the holiday quarter. The announcement came as Amazon reported a blowout holiday quarter with profits more than doubling to $7.2 billion and revenue jumping 44 percent to $125.6 billion. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images) This photograph taken on March 3, 2021 in Zurich shows a sign of Swiss banking giant UBS on their headquarters. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images) Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, attends the 2019 annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 3, 2019. (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images) CEO at Verizon Media K. Guru Gowrappan appears at the 2019 Verizon Media NewFront on April 30, 2019 in New York City. Economist: Work from home will be the future for a 'lucky minority' This photograph taken on April 26, 2021 in Paris shows a physical imitation of the Bitcoin crypto currency. In this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, traders work around stock monitoring systems on the trading floor, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, in New York. Inflation worries rattled Wall Street on Wednesday, pulling the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 680 points lower and placing the major stock indexes on track for their worst week in more than six months. (Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange via AP) (CNN Business) — Warren Buffett has said for years that “we missed it” on Amazon. Not anymore. Buffett revealed on Thursday that Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) has been buying Amazon shares, noting that the exact amount will be disclosed in Berkshire’s quarterly report to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission later this month. “One of the fellows in the office that manage money … bought some Amazon,” Buffett said in an interview with CNBC. He was referring to Berkshire Hathaway’s top investment managers Ted Weschler or Todd Combs, according to CNBC. Buffett is well-known for not being the biggest fan of tech stocks. But he has made no secret of his admiration for Amazon and Jeff Bezos, repeatedly praising the e-commerce company and its chief executive during past Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meetings. “Yeah, I’ve been a fan, and I’ve been an idiot for not buying” Amazon shares, Buffett told CNBC. “But I want you to know it’s no personality changes taking place.” Last year, Buffett teamed up with Amazon and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to tackle the United States’ soaring health care costs. Berkshire Hathaway has lagged the broader market this year. The stock is up just 6.6% in 2019, compared to a nearly 18% gain for the S&P 500. Several of Buffett’s favorite stocks — most notably Wells Fargo (CBEAX) and Coca-Cola (CCEP) — have underperformed. Another top pick, Kraft Heinz (KHC), has been an outright disaster, plunging 25% this year. One of Buffett’s big winners this year is another tech darling: Apple (AAPL). Berkshire Hathaway owns about 250 million shares of Apple, making Berkshire the company’s second-largest investor. Shares in Apple have soared more than 30% this year. Paul R. La Monica contributed to this story.