Berkshire Hathaway Increases Its SiriusXM Stake to 32% Following Liberty Deal

Warren Buffett has continued to increase its stake in SiriusXM, now owning 32% of the New York-based satellite radio company.

On Wednesday through Friday, the Omaha-based conglomerate bought approximately 3.6 million shares for around $87 million, as stated in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Berkshire increased its stake in Liberty Media after John Malone's deal to combine the company's tracking stocks with its audio entertainment business in early September. This was part of Malone's restructuring of his media empire, which also involved a spin-off of the Atlanta Braves baseball team into a separate, publicly traded company, which Berkshire also owns.

In 2016, Buffett's firm initially purchased Liberty Media's tracking stocks, and later in 2024, after the merger arbitrage deal announcement, they began accumulating Siri's tracking stocks.

It is unknown if the 94-year-old is responsible for the bet or if it was carried out by the billionaire's investing lieutenants, Ted Weschler or Todd Combs.

Not well loved

Despite facing subscriber losses and demographic shifts, SiriusXM is not a highly sought-after stock among Wall Street analysts. According to FactSet, only five out of the 14 analysts covering the stock have given it a buy rating.

Last week, JPMorgan analyst Sebastiano Petti downgraded SiriusXM's rating to "underweight" and expressed concerns about its long-term growth and ability to appeal to a wider audience.

The Liberty transaction, which decreased the share count by 12%, may cause the company to halt share buybacks until 2027, potentially negatively impacting shares, according to an analyst.

Despite a 8% increase in stock price on Monday due to Berkshire's disclosure, shares are still down more than 50% this year.

Berkshire's last significant investment in a major media company was in 2022, when it bought a nonvoting stake in 's class B shares. However, the investment turned sour quickly, and Buffett revealed in May this year that he had exited the entire stock at a significant loss.

What Buffett said about the unfruitful Paramount bet made him think more deeply about what people prioritize in their leisure time. He previously stated that the streaming industry has too many players competing for viewer dollars, leading to a price war.