Ulta Beauty has about 1,395 stores in all 50 US states. — Reuters
NEW YORK: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has acquired stakes in cosmetics store chain Ulta Beauty and aircraft parts maker Heico during the second quarter, when it also nearly halved its huge stake in Apple.
Berkshire owned about 690,000 Ulta Beauty shares worth US$266.3mil and 1.04 million Heico shares worth US$185.4mil as of June 30, according to a Wednesday regulatory filing containing its US-listed holdings as of that date.
Ulta Beauty shares soared 14% and Heico shares rose 3% in after-hours trading, reflecting a belief that the companies won Berkshire’s and perhaps Buffett’s stamp of approval.
Wednesday’s filing did not say whether Buffett did the buying, though his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler normally oversee Berkshire’s smaller stock investments.
Ulta Beauty did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Heico co-president Eric Mendelson said he was honoured to have Berkshire invest, citing both companies’ decentralised business models. Shares of Hollywood, Florida-based Heico are up 32% this year through Wednesday’s close.
“I assume that Berkshire is bullish on the aerospace industry as we are,” Mendelson said in a phone interview.
While better known for owning Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad and Apple stock, Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate has stakes in many consumer and retail businesses.
Its business portfolio includes brands such as Benjamin Moore, Dairy Queen, Duracell and Fruit of the Loom, and about US$2.5bil of stock in grocery chain Kroger.
Ulta Beauty, based in Bolingbrook, Illinois, has about 1,395 stores in all 50 US states.
Berkshire is also familiar with the aerospace sector, having paid US$32.1bil in 2016 for aircraft parts maker Precision Castparts, still its largest purchase of an entire company.
Buffett later admitted he overpaid for Precision, which struggled with falling air travel during the Covid-19 pandemic and the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX jets.
Ulta Beauty and Heico were among Berkshire’s few purchases in a quarter marked by a hasty retreat from stocks. — Reuters
