Berkshire raises Lennar stake past 12% despite short-seller report
The move
Berkshire Hathaway bought about 2.4 million Lennar Class A shares and 15,028 Class B shares, worth roughly $192.6 million, on October 1 and 2, lifting its stake to about 28.43 million Class A and 568,028 Class B shares, per an SEC filing reported October 6. Lennar shares fell sharply after short-seller Hunterbrook published a report on Lennar's dealings with its Millrose Properties spinoff, which it said bought more than 700 Lennar homes for an estimated $200 million-plus, 356 of them in the final week of Lennar's third quarter.
Why it matters
Berkshire kept buying into the stock even as a short-seller report and a weak housing market pressured the shares — a vote of confidence from the company's largest outside shareholder.
The bear case
Berkshire's purchases predate the Hunterbrook report; it's unclear whether Buffett's team would buy at the same pace now, and mortgage rates near 7.3% are still a drag on homebuilders.
What to watch
Lennar's next earnings report and any Berkshire 13F update on whether the buying continued through the Hunterbrook selloff.
