Berkshire Hathaway’s festival-like annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, told CNBC’s Jim Cramer a lot more than just how beloved the Warren Buffett-run company is.
“For us, there’ll be talk of stocks galore, especially Buffett’s portfolio,” the “Mad Money” host said on Friday as the 40,000-person event kicked off.
“You can bet he’ll be asked about his positions,” Cramer said. “Berkshire’s got a ton of them. So let’s take a look at the top five to set the scene for what he might say this weekend.”
Cramer had to start with the stock of Apple. On Thursday, Buffett told CNBC that Berkshire Hathaway purchased a whopping 75 million shares of the technology colossus.
The purchase added to the nearly 170 million shares Buffett’s company already owned at the end of 2017. Shares of Apple hit a fresh all-time high on Friday following the announcement.
“We know that Buffett likes Apple because he thinks it produces the greatest consumer products ever,” Cramer said. “Buffett hasn’t really addressed Apple’s service revenue stream yet, but I think that’s going to be the big theme for him.”
Cramer also expected the legendary investor to address Apple’s music, cloud and payment processing services at the shareholder event.
“Here’s one where Buffett’s just going to ride it out, betting that perhaps the worst is over,” Cramer said of Berkshire’s investment in ailing bank giant Wells Fargo.
“I expect he’ll spend as little time as possible on Wells because it’s so darned embarrassing,” the “Mad Money” host added.
While Berkshire can’t buy any more shares of Wells Fargo — no entity is allowed to own more than 10 percent of a bank stock — Cramer figured that Buffett would be grilled about the scandal-ridden play.
“Still, if Buffett says the government’s intervention is almost over, the stock of Wells Fargo will rally and it will rally hard,” Cramer said. “It will catch up to the other banks.”
Cramer thought Buffett’s impending departure from the board of grocery giant Kraft Heinz could pave the way for the company to pursue potential mergers or acquisitions more aggressively.
“[This] suggests to me that Kraft Heinz can be more hostile in its next takeover bid which they need so badly, something that Buffett forbade while he was on the board,” Cramer said. “Pinnacle Food might be a natural target, but it’s awfully high. Kellogg’s, too.”
In 2017, Buffett told CNBC that he would own Bank of America’s stock for a “long, long, long time,” expressing his confidence in CEO Brian Moynihan.
“I think if the Fed raises rates three times this year and it doesn’t kill the economy, this is one of the best banks to own,” the “Mad Money” host said.
Buffett’s potential comments on Berkshire’s investment in Coca-Cola were the hardest for Cramer to predict.
“Buffett’s shown an amazing amount of patience and willingness to just let the company do its thing,” Cramer said. “I bet he says that James Quincey, the new CEO, is doing a great job expanding the beverage portfolio.”
“These days, Uncle Warren doesn’t mince words,” Cramer concluded. “He totally tells it like it is. That’s why Apple and Wells are the two I care the most about. He caused the stock of Apple to break out today to an all-time high. Will he do the same for Wells? Well, that’s the only mystery of the weekend.”
Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Apple.
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