Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA +0.83%) (BRKB +0.95%) is shuffling its portfolio again. The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate filed its second-quarter 13F form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, detailing the company's huge stock portfolio and changes made since the first quarter.

Chief Executive Officer Greg Abel, who took over from the legendary Warren Buffett at the beginning of the year, was an active buyer, increasing the portfolio's size from $263 billion to $299 billion. Abel is getting the most attention for his purchase of Alphabet stock, which is now the third-largest position in the company's portfolio. He increased the size of its holdings in the company by 83%, bringing its stake to more than $36 billion.

However, I'm also intrigued by some of his smaller stock purchases. Here are three companies that Berkshire bought last quarter -- not including Alphabet.

Berkshire Hathaway has bought more shares in Lennar, a homebuilder. Image source: Getty Images.

No. 1: Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines (DAL -2.16%) is one of the biggest airlines in the world, serving 290 destinations and operating about 5,000 flights per day. When you add Delta's partner network, the airline can get you to more than 700 destinations in 130 countries and territories.

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Operating an airline can be a tough business when you factor in jet fuel costs, competition from low-fare operators, and the overhead of purchasing and maintaining a fleet of aircraft. Operating revenue was $19.8 billion in the quarter, up 19% from a year ago.

But expenses grew even faster. Fuel costs jumped 67%, and refinery expenses were up 89%. Overall, Delta reported operating expense of $17.9 billion, up 25% from a year ago. That led to net income falling 25% year over year to $1.6 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway initiated a stake in Delta in the first quarter and increased it by 44% in the second quarter. The conglomerate now owns 8.7% of the airline, with 57.3 million shares representing a stake of about $5 billion in Delta stock.

No. 2: Lennar Lennar (LEN -1.85%) is a home construction and real estate company and one of the nation's largest homebuilders. The company delivered just over 20,500 homes in the second quarter, near the midpoint of its forecast, with an average sale price of $371,000.

However, revenue from home sales fell 2% in the quarter to $7.6 billion, with housing prices falling by an average of 5% from last year. Gross margin was 15.6%, down from 17.8% year over year, and operating earnings for the company's financial services segment fell from $157 million to $100 million.

The company is in the process of making over its business, moving from a capital-heavy land developer to a land-light strategy built on land-option platforms and option agreements. Lennar has said the change will make it more efficient, freeing up capital and improving returns on inventory and equity over the long term.

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Abel apparently sees it as a good value. Berkshire increased its stake in Lennar Class B shares by 43% in the quarter, and the conglomerate now holds 13.4 million shares of its Class A and Class B stock that represents a combined stake of almost $1.2 billion.

No. 3: The New York Times Company Berkshire used to be big into the newspaper business, operating a chain of daily papers under the Berkshire Hathaway Media Group. Buffett once said that he liked that daily newspapers essentially held monopolies in the communities they served by providing news, supermarket ads, and job listings.

All that changed with the internet, however, and Berkshire sold its last newspapers in 2020. Buffett declared that the industry was "toast."

But there are always exceptions, and one of those is The New York Times Company (NYT -0.31%). Berkshire opened a position in the company in the fourth quarter of 2025 and has been adding to it steadily. Abel tripled Berkshire's position in the first quarter this year, and in the second quarter, he increased the conglomerate's stake again, by 4%.

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The news company has transitioned to a digital model, with digital-only subscriptions up 16.4% from a year ago and digital ad revenue up 20.7%. Overall, the company has 13.4 million subscribers, of which 12.8 million are digital-only.

Total revenue was $762.5 million in the quarter, up 11%, and adjusted operating profit was $155.3 million, up 20% from last year. Berkshire Hathaway now owns 15.7 million shares of New York Times stock, or 9.8% of the company, and its stake is valued at a little more than $1 billion.

New York Times Co. (NYT - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.69 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.67 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.58 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +2.99%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this newspaper publisher would post earnings of $0.49 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.61, delivering a surprise of +24.49%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.

New York Times, which belongs to the Zacks Publishing - Newspapers industry, posted revenues of $762.46 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.94%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $685.87 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

New York Times shares have added about 8.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 13%.

What's Next for New York Times?While New York Times has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for New York Times was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.69 on $765.69 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $2.93 on $3.09 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Publishing - Newspapers is currently in the top 45% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Another stock from the broader Zacks Consumer Staples sector, Celsius Holdings Inc. (CELH - Free Report) , has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 6.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.42 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -10.6%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.9% lower over the last 30 days to the current level.

Celsius Holdings Inc.'s revenues are expected to be $883.27 million, up 19.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Key Takeaways NYT's quarterly results will spotlight digital subscription growth and advertising revenue trends.Bundled products, pricing actions and subscriber retention are expected to support subscription revenues.Print weakness and higher spending on product development, marketing and administration may pressure margins. The New York Times Company (NYT - Free Report) is set to announce its second-quarter 2026 earnings results on Aug. 5, before the market opens. Key focus areas include subscription growth and trends in advertising revenues.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues is pegged at $748 million, indicating a 9.1% rise from the prior-year period.

This diversified media conglomerate is also expected to show improvement in the bottom line. The consensus estimate for earnings per share has remained steady at 67 cents over the past 30 days, suggesting a 15.5% increase from the year-ago period.

The New York Times Company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 12.7%, on average. In the last reported quarter, the company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EPS by 24.5%.

Factors Likely to Have Shaped NYT’s Q2 OutcomeThe New York Times Company’s second-quarter performance is likely to have benefited from the continued strength of its digital subscription business, supported by sustained demand for its premium news and lifestyle offerings. Management has consistently emphasized that its strategy of building direct relationships with readers through a diversified portfolio of products, including News, Games, Cooking, The Athletic, Audio and Wirecutter, continues to deepen user engagement. The company has also highlighted healthy subscriber retention, successful pricing actions and growing engagement across its bundled offerings, all of which are expected to have supported subscription revenues during the quarter.

On its last earnings call, management projected a 10-12% year-over-year increase in total subscription revenues for the second quarter, with digital-only subscription revenues anticipated to rise 14-17%. The New York Times Company's expanding subscriber base is central to its growth strategy. The Zacks Consensus Estimate indicates the digital-only subscriber count to be 12.84 million by the end of the second quarter.

The New York Times has benefited from robust marketer demand, supported by strong audience engagement across multiple content categories, including news, sports, games and lifestyle products. Management has noted that expanding advertising inventory across its digital properties while maintaining a consumer-first experience has strengthened advertiser interest. Its growing first-party data capabilities and broad portfolio of premium content are also likely to have helped attract advertising spending and supported healthy monetization during the second quarter. Management had guided a high-teens increase in digital advertising revenues for the quarter under review.

The company’s ongoing investments in product innovation and content quality are also likely to have remained supportive of second-quarter performance. Management continues to expand video journalism, launch new digital features and enhance user experiences across its platforms to strengthen engagement and attract new audiences. The strategy of leveraging high-quality journalism alongside premium lifestyle content has helped reinforce the company’s competitive position while creating multiple avenues for monetization through subscriptions, advertising and licensing. These long-term initiatives are likely to have supported overall business momentum in the quarter.

On the flip side, The New York Times Company’s second-quarter performance may have continued to face headwinds from its print business, where subscription and advertising trends have remained under pressure. The consensus estimate for print subscription revenues stands at $128 million, down 2.3%, while print advertising revenues are expected to fall 12.7% to $34.5 million. Higher spending on product development, marketing and administrative functions may have weighed on margins. Management had guided an 8-9% increase in adjusted operating costs for the quarter under review.

What the Zacks Model Predicts for NYTAs investors prepare for The New York Times Company’s second-quarter results, the question looms regarding an earnings beat or miss. Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for The New York Times Company this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. However, that’s not the case here.

The New York Times Company has a Zacks Rank #3 but an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks With the Favorable CombinationHere are three more companies you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this season:

SanDisk Corporation (SNDK - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Aug. 5. Currently, it has an Earnings ESP of +4.13% and sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

 The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SanDisk’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $34.24 per share, indicating a year-over-year increase from 29 cents reported in the year-ago period. Earnings estimates for the quarter have been revised upward by 2.8% over the past 30 days.

 Western Digital Corporation (WDC - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Aug. 5. Currently, it has an Earnings ESP of +3.22% and sports a Zacks Rank #1.

 The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Western Digital’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $3.35 per share, calling for a year-over-year surge of 101.8%. Earnings estimates for the quarter have been revised upward by a penny in the past 30 days.

 MKS Inc. (MKSI - Free Report) is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 5. Currently, it has an Earnings ESP of +1.59% and carries a Zacks Rank #2.

 The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MKS’ second-quarter earnings is pegged at $2.94 per share, calling for a year-over-year jump of 66.1%. Earnings estimates for the quarter have been revised upward by a penny in the past seven days.