What Gurus are buying and selling - Q1 2026 13F updates
When two superinvestors make the exact opposite bet on Google and Microsoft
Friday was the deadline for Superinvestors ($100M+) to report their US positions held on 31st March 2026 (13F filings).
In this post I share my takeaways from the latest changes in the portfolios of my favorite Gurus.
đ Does Alphabet keep its crown as ultimate Guru Gem?
đž Software recovery continues
đ Other names worth watching
Below is a table listing most of the Gurus covered so far in the Guru Gems series as well as some other interesting Gurus.
â For the full table with more names and additional comments, access the Guru Master Google Doc, which also contains my full portfolio and latest activities
1ď¸âŁ Alphabet, Amazon, and the GOOG vs MSFT debate
Alphabet is still the ultimate Guru Gem
Alphabet continues to dominate Guru portfolios.
Li Lu holds it at a massive 45% of his US portfolio.
John Armitage tripled (!) his position (+221%), making it his second-largest holding.
Seth Klarman added +9%.
Berkshire Hathaway dramatically increased their stake (+204%, though from a small base).
Chris Hohn further increased his Alphabet stake.
Looking across the full table, Alphabet appears as Gem 1 or Gem 2 for more Gurus than any other stock.
Amazon remains the clear second favorite
Last quarter, Gurus were loading up on Amazon because it was the laggard of the Magnificent 7, with barely a 1% return over full 2025. That thesis hasnât gone away.
Seth Klarman made Amazon his #1 position this quarter (+47%). Bill Ackman holds it as his #2 (+19%). David Rolfe added aggressively (+72%). Samantha McLemore increased by +16%. And Josh Tarasoff holds it as his largest position at nearly 19% of his portfolio.
The picture is more mixed than Q4 however. Berkshire sold their full Amazon position, Armitage cut by 60%, and Druckenmiller exited entirely.
But the buyers are some of the most conviction-driven, long-term oriented names in the business.
The thesis: Amazonâs return on invested capital has recovered strongly from its 2022 lows, AWS and advertising continue to grow, and the valuation (particularly on EV/EBITDA) remains attractive relative to the business quality.
When Gurus disagree: the GOOG vs MSFT debate
Two high-profile investors just made almost exactly opposite bets on Google and Microsoft.
Bill Ackman announced a new position in Microsoft, calling it a âhighly compelling valuation.â At the same time, Chris Hohn was selling more than 80% of his Microsoft stake, citing âuncertainty over Microsoftâs competitive position in the future.â
Ackmanâs move was not just a buy of Microsoft, he effectively sold Alphabet to fund his purchase.
On X (Twitter), Bill Ackman reacted to Chris Hohnâs move and later also clarified why he sold Alphabet.
Finally, John Armitage made an even bolder move: he sold his entire Microsoft position (which was Egerton Capitalâs largest holding just two quarters ago), reduced Amazon by 60% and tripled his Alphabet stake.
Three exceptional investors, with very different conclusions on the same companies.
This is the kind of divergence that makes pattern-finding hard, but it is also a fascinating debate worth following closely over the coming quarters.
2ď¸âŁ Software recovery: the SaaSpocalypse buying continues
In last quarterâs edition, I wrote about how we were probably reaching âpeak fearâ in software stocks following the AI agentic tools scare.
The data from Q1 13Fs suggests that some Gurus have acted with conviction.
Salesforce (CRM) is the clearest signal. Oakmark increased their position by 52%, making it their single largest holding at ~3.7% of a $75 billion portfolio. Akre Capital initiated a new position. The stock has been a frequent target of âAI disruptionâ fear, and both firms are effectively saying that the fear is overblown.
Bill Nygrenâs Oakmark, who published a letter âWhy weâre buying software todayâ in February, has clearly acted on that thesis. In addition to CRM, they added a new position in Roper Technologies (ROP) as well as Adobe (ADBE). Samantha McLemore at Patient Capital Management also bought Adobe.
Akre Capital initiated ServiceNow (NOW) as a new position, in addition to CRM. This follows their letter to shareholders in February, where they expressed high frustration, but even higher conviction in the face of fear-driven selling.
On the smaller end, Bryan Lawrence (Oakcliff Capital), who rarely makes changes to his highly concentrated portfolio, increased his Guidewire Software (GWRE) position by 73%. As I discussed in the Q4 update, Lawrence views Guidewire as an âAI-Resilientâ software company, and this addition seems to double down on that conviction.
Finally, Gurus seem to also double down on CCC Intelligent Solutions (CCC), one of the most beaten down stocks in my Guru Gems portfolio. Akre Capital (+27%), Peter Keefe (+47%) and Triple Frond Partners (+13%) all significantly increased their position in this SaaS company operating in the insurance industry.
3ď¸âŁ Multi-Guru accumulation: the names worth watching
One of the most useful signals in 13F analysis is when the same name appears in multiple portfolios at the same time. This quarter there are two distinct groups worth highlighting. Iâll be adding these to my watchlist.
The under-the-radar names
These are lesser-known companies that most people on X and Substack won't be writing about, but where multiple long-term investors are quietly building positions.
Linde Plc (LIN)
This industrial gas & engineering giant shows up across three different Guru portfolios.
John Armitage initiated a new 6% position (making it an immediate top-5 holding for Egerton Capital);
AKO Capital also added a 1.3% position;
Tom Gayner at Markel holds a 0.9% stake.
Linde is a high-quality compounder with global scale and pricing power. It could be considered the industrial equivalent of the quality compounders these Gurus typically love.
Lennar Corp (LEN)
Lennar, a homebuilder, is another convergence.
Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased their holding (they now own approximately 5% of Lennar);
Greenhaven Associates has it as a 15% position;
Bryan Lawrence holds a 4.5% position.
One of the main argument for owning homebuilders is that the US housing market is undersupplied. This supply/demand imbalance will take years to address and should support ongoing pricing power for homebuilders.
Sunbelt Rentals (SUNB)
Sunbelt Rentals, an equipment rental business, might be the most intriguing name.
Looking at the 13Fs, it looks like Thomas Russo, AKO Capital, Bill Nygren at Oakmark, François Rochon and Tom Gayner all initiated a new position.
However, the company has been public for decades, but was previously trading primarily on the London Stock Exchange, and recently moved their primary listing to the U.S. because the vast majority of their operations and revenue are generated in North America.
Therefore it is possible that all the Gurus above already owned the company through the UK listing and it just looks like they now have a new position.
In any case, itâs an interesting name to have a closer look at, as it may be one of those unglamorous compounders that fits the Guru playbook well.
Well-known names, but with a new story
Uber (UBER)
Uber continues to attract serious Guru conviction. Bill Ackman holds it as a core 16% position, and John Armitage increased his stake by +74% this quarter, making it one of his largest additions. Thomas Russo also slightly added.
Uber's dominant position in ride-hailing and food delivery, combined with improving margins and a growing advertising business, makes it a compounding story that fits the Guru playbook well. It is a Guru Gems portfolio holding, so it is reassuring to see investors of this caliber adding with conviction.
Netflix (NFLX)
Netflix (NFLX) attracted some buying during a quarter where the company's failed bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery played out. A deal which was ultimately lost to a superior bid from Paramount. The episode highlighted Netflix's M&A ambitions and financial firepower.
Josh Tarasoff initiated a new 8% position, Thomas Russo added +12%, and Bill Nygren significantly increased Oakmarkâs stake.
The thesis: Netflix is entering a new phase of pricing power and margin expansion, with or without transformative M&A.
Moodyâs (MCO) and S&P Global (SPGI)
Moody's and S&P Global may be the clearest multi-Guru signal of the quarter.
Armitage doubled MCO (+100%), Hohn holds it at 14% and added, Li Lu initiated both MCO and SPGI as new buys, and Kantesaria holds SPGI as his second-largest position at 22%.
I already own SPGI in my Guru Gems portfolio, so itâs a nice validation to see this level of Guru conviction.
đ What this means for the Guru Gems portfolio
Iâm pleased to see several Guru Gems portfolio holdings being reinforced by multiple Gurus this quarter.
Alphabet continues to enjoy wide ownership and some high-profile additions, and positions in SPGI, UBER, and CCC are also being added by Gurus I follow.
One question that is on my mind: should I trim Alphabet?
Alphabet has been an exceptional winner and now represents more than 15% of my portfolio. Thatâs a large concentration in any single name (even a great one).
In my recent post on Stock Master Maestros, one of the investors profiled in the book, Greg Padilla, has an elegant framework: he starts every position at a standard 2â2.5% weight and then simply lets it run.
His only exception is a hard rule to trim when a position reaches 6% of the portfolio. Not because heâs lost conviction, but purely for risk management purposes.
Alphabet is now well more than double that 6% threshold. By Padillaâs framework, a trim here isnât a lack of conviction, itâs the disciplined, rational thing to do. Alphabet doesnât need to collapse for it to hurt the portfolio significantly; it just needs to underperform.
The fact that a number of Gurus who held large Alphabet positions (Ackman, Armitage, and others) have been trimming (and in Ackmanâs case, exiting) after the stockâs strong run gives me further reason to act.
My plan: trim Alphabet back towards a 14-15% weighting and keep that as a maximum for any holding.
Thatâs it for this weekâs edition!
You can follow me on X @guru_gems and Substack @gurugems for more insights.
Until next week!
great overview!