Meet the Stock Warren Buffett Purchased for 6 Consecutive Quarters Leading Up to His Retirement (No, It's Not Shares of Berkshire Hathaway)

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Meet the Stock Warren Buffett Purchased for 6 Consecutive Quarters Leading Up to His Retirement (No, It's Not Shares of Berkshire Hathaway)

investing ideas :: 10hrs ago :: source - motley fool

By Sean Williams

Feb. 17 was a historic day on Wall Street. It marked the deadline for institutional investors with at least $100 million in assets under management to file Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In simpler terms, it gave us, as investors, an under-the-hood look at billionaire Warren Buffett's trading activity in his final quarter as Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA)(NYSE: BRKB) CEO.

While several high-profile stocks were pared down, and a brand-name company was added to Berkshire's $317 billion investment portfolio, perhaps the biggest eyebrow-raising move of the Oracle of Omaha's last quarter as CEO was purchasing shares of Domino's Pizza (NASDAQ: DPZ).

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Warren Buffett retired as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway on Dec. 31, 2025. Image source: The Motley Fool.

The Oracle of Omaha bought Domino's Pizza stock for six straight quarters

Warren Buffett buying shares of any stock is noteworthy, given that he was a net seller of stocks for more than three years leading up to his retirement. But what's special about the Domino's Pizza purchase is that it marked the sixth consecutive quarter of buys:

Q3 2024: 1,277,256 shares purchased
Q4 2024: 1,104,744 shares purchased
Q1 2025: 238,613 shares purchased
Q2 2025: 13,255 shares purchased
Q3 2025: 348,077 shares purchased
Q4 2025: 368,055 shares purchased (3,350,000 total shares held)

In the 18 months leading up to his departure as CEO, Berkshire's billionaire boss built up a 9.9% stake in Domino's Pizza.

Image source: Getty Images.

Domino's Pizza checks four of the most important boxes for Buffett

Since its initial public offering (IPO) in July 2004, shares of Domino's have soared by more than 6,000%, including dividends. This outsize return didn't happen by accident -- and Berkshire's now-retired boss knew it.

Domino's checks four critical boxes for Buffett on the investment front, beginning with consumer trust. In the late 2000s, it kicked off a mea culpa advertising campaign that admitted its pizza was subpar and vowed to improve it. For more than 16 years, the company's transparent marketing has resonated with its customers.

Secondly, Domino's management team has consistently exceeded expectations. This is a company with a rich history of surpassing five-year growth projections. The newest five-year plan, dubbed "Hungry for MORE," promotes the use of artificial intelligence to improve output and supply chains. It also relies on innovation and its team members (including franchisees) to enhance the company's global brand value.

The third box Domino's Pizza checks is that it incentivizes long-term investing by taking care of its shareholders. The company regularly repurchases its common stock and has increased its base annual dividend for more than a decade.

The final piece of the puzzle is Domino's valuation. If there's one investment trait that Warren Buffett did not waver on, it was valuation. With shares of Domino's Pizza weakening over the trailing year, its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has dipped to 19. This represents a 29% discount to its average forward P/E over the trailing five years.

Although Buffett is no longer in charge of Berkshire Hathaway's day-to-day operations or investments, he was still positioning his company for success in his final quarter as CEO. Getting a bigger slice of Domino's Pizza was very clearly part of that plan.

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Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Domino's Pizza. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

This article was originally published by The Motley Fool