Warren Buffett Has a $549 Million Craving for Pizza and a Pool Party

Warren Buffett, the oracle of Omaha, just threw us all for a loop. While most of the financial world was waiting for a flash sale on tech stocks or a Buffett-inspired dip into something more... exciting, the man himself did what ol’ Warren does best: he grabbed his gun and went value hunting. And what did he come back with? Domino’s Pizza and Pool Corp. Pizza and pools, folks. The man’s 94 and is out here living his best life.

No, this is not satire. Berkshire Hathaway the king of cash piles just scooped up 1.3 million shares of Domino’s Pizza for a measly $549 million. Meanwhile, they tossed a $152 million lifeline at Pool Corp., which supplies all the pool equipment your rich uncle buys to keep his backyard oasis looking pristine. But what does this all mean? Well, he’s giving a masterclass in his unique brand of investing, and it's a heck of a lot less glamorous than buying iPhones or banks.

First, let’s talk pizza. Buffett’s decision to go big on Domino’s is... unexpected, right. Here’s a company that’s been cruising at a solid 5% stock gain this year, and while that’s not exactly earth-shattering, it’s steady — and in Buffett’s world, steady is like finding gold in the form of cheesy breadsticks.

But why pizza? It’s simple. Buffett knows that pizza, much like Coca-Cola or See’s Candies, is recession-resistant. People will splurge on a pizza night even when the economy's in the dumps. Domino’s stock may have had a relatively “meh” year, but Buffett sees value in companies that consistently churn out profit without relying on a market that’s constantly looking for the next shiny thing. 

And then there’s Pool Corp. A company that supplies well… pool equipment, maintenance, and all those flamingo pool floaties. Pool Corp. has seen a bit of a rocky year, with shares down 8%, but Buffett sees a steady hand in this business too. Pool maintenance isn’t as cool as tech or flashy as consumer goods, but people will always need to clean their pools, fix their filters, and keep their backyard lagoons functioning — especially if they’re rich enough to have a pool in the first place.

Buffett’s been trimming his Apple stake for the last few quarters. In Q3, Berkshire shed $34.5 billion worth of stocks, including more Apple shares. As of September 30th, his investment in the tech giant had been cut by a quarter, bringing his total stake down to $69.9 billion. That's a lot of iPhones, but it also signals a shift in Buffett’s thinking. While he’s not fully abandoning Tim Cook for Samsung (Buffett himself said Apple is “extremely likely” to remain Berkshire’s largest common stock holding), he’s clearly not as bullish on tech as he used to be. 

Maybe it's the market’s overhyped obsession with AI, or maybe it’s just that Buffett doesn’t need Apple to be his biggest player anymore. Either way, his pullback from Apple (a stock that once made up over 40% of Berkshire’s equity portfolio) is pretty telling. 

Warren Buffett might be old school, but his moves this quarter prove that sometimes, the best bet is a big slice of pizza and a clean pool.

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Stock.News has positions in Apple, Coca Cola, Domino’s, and Pool Corp. mentioned in article.