Up 40% In 2025, Warren Buffett Sold This Top Stock Before Its Hot Streak. Is It Too Late To Buy Now?

Group 1 - Warren Buffett retired as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025, having achieved an average annualized return of nearly 20% for the company's stock portfolio over 60 years, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's 10% return during the same period [1] - In his 2024 shareholder letter, Buffett acknowledged making mistakes, using the terms "mistake" or "error" 16 times from 2019 to 2023, contrasting with many other large companies that have not admitted to such errors [2] - Buffett emphasized the importance of correcting mistakes promptly, referencing advice from Charlie Munger that problems cannot be ignored and require uncomfortable actions [3] Group 2 - Berkshire Hathaway purchased approximately 690,000 shares of Ulta Beauty valued at around $266 million in Q2 2024, representing about 0.10% of its portfolio at that time [4] - In the following quarter, Berkshire significantly reduced its holdings in Ulta, selling all but about 24,000 shares valued at around $9 million, and by Q4 2024, completely exited its position in Ulta Beauty [5] - Ulta Beauty had a strong performance in the previous year, and its stock would have been one of Berkshire Hathaway's best performers had it not been sold [6]