In recent US SEC filings, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has made some interesting buy-and-sell moves. Prominent among them is the complete exit from Taiwan Semiconductor while betting on Capital One banking sector stock. Berkshire Hathaway said it had a 9.92 million share stake in the company. The stake in Capital One would be worth $954 million, based on the closing price on March 31.

Overall, Berkshire Hathaway’s earnings were $10.4 billion from stock sales after subtracting stock acquisitions, making it a net seller of stocks during the first quarter of 2023.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. revised its banking sector bets, selling out of U.S. Bancorp and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. while betting on Capital One Banking Corp. The revamp is in light of the upheaval at regional banks. Diageo ADR, and Vitesse Energy were the other buys of Berkshire Hathaway during the quarter. Major additions between January and March were in stocks of HP, Apple, Occidental Petroleum and Bank of America.

Berkshire also used the chance to modify its exposure to industrial companies. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. stake was sold off after Buffett expressed concern about the stock’s geopolitical risk. Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and CEO, stated earlier this month at his annual meeting that Taiwan Semi was one of the best-managed and most important companies in the world, but he didn’t like the location – a reference to escalating tensions between the island and China.

Chevron Corp. stake was reduced by around 19% and the company has also reduced exposure to Celanese Corp. and General Motors. Stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp. was increased by Berkshire Hathaway while dismissing expectations that it would buy the oil behemoth entirely. General Re unit’s interests were mentioned in its disclosure, which was done for the first time by Berkshire Hathaway.

The US stock market surprised many investors globally by registering healthy returns in the first three months of the year. Nasdaq 100 re-entered the bull market after rising from October lows and S&P 500 also closed with decent returns. The first 3 months also saw the outbreak of a banking crisis in the US with many regional banks collapsing.