‘Baby Berkshire’ Portfolio: 10 Best AI Stocks to Buy According to Warren Buffett Disciple Tom Gayner

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The recent AI stock selloff has investors asking how long AI stocks will take to win back confidence. Many are looking at old-school billionaires and veteran money managers who have worked through several market cycles. One of the best-known is Tom Gayner, the CEO of Markel Group. Gayner is a staunch Warren Buffett follower, and Forbes titled its 2024 profile of him “Inside a Baby Berkshire Hathaway.” This list shows the 10 biggest AI-related holdings in Markel’s latest 13F filing. We also ranked the Berkshire holdings with the most upside in our list of the 10 best Warren Buffett stocks with upside potential.

How Gayner Became a Buffett Student

Gayner graduated from the University of Virginia in 1983 and later took a job at Davenport & Co., a stockbroker in Richmond, Virginia. Soon after, he read about Buffett and became deeply interested in his investing philosophy. In 1990, Gayner left Davenport to join Markel, an insurance-based holding company that the Markel family started in 1930. Markel also owns a large stock portfolio and a group of private businesses. Gayner ran the stock investments, and his first purchase was Berkshire Hathaway stock. He became co-CEO in 2016 and has been the sole CEO since 2023.

Why Markel Is Called “Baby Berkshire”

Markel uses the Berkshire model. It runs an insurance business, owns a large stock portfolio, and controls a group of private companies. Cash from Markel’s profitable insurance business has flowed into Gayner’s portfolio every month since 1990, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2015.

Berkshire is also the cornerstone of Markel’s portfolio. Its Class A and Class B shares made up 6.48% and 5.94% of Markel’s reported portfolio at the end of September 2026. Gayner told Barron’s that the friendships and network he built around Berkshire’s meetings have no equal. See the Berkshire picks with the most upside in our list of the 5 best Warren Buffett stocks with upside potential.

Has Gayner Beaten the Market?

Jason Zweig, a Wall Street Journal columnist, wrote about Gayner’s record in a 2015 column. Zweig also wrote the new commentary for the 2003 edition of Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, a book Buffett has called the best investing book ever written. Zweig reported that Gayner’s stocks returned an average of 11.3% a year over the prior 15 years. The S&P 500 returned 4.2% a year with dividends in the same period. In 2008, Gayner’s portfolio fell 34% and the S&P 500 fell 37%. Zweig also reported that Gayner ran the portfolio for less than 0.01% in annual expenses.

Methodology

To compile our list of the 10 AI stocks Tom Gayner’s Markel Group is holding, we examined Markel’s third-quarter 2026 13F portfolio, which disclosed about $12.84 billion in holdings across 145 stocks as of September 30. We selected 10 holdings tied to AI. Alphabet’s Class A and Class C shares count as one company. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of Markel’s reported stake value as of September 30, 2026, with the largest holding at number one.

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You can click the image below to see the top 5 AI stock picks of Warren Buffett Disciple Tom Gayner.

#10 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Markel Stake as of Q3: $18.6 Million

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) makes the equipment chipmakers use to build semiconductors, so its sales rise when companies spend more on AI chip factories. Tom Gayner’s Markel Group held 36,350 shares at the end of September 2026, which is 0.14% of its reported portfolio. The portfolio data shows no change to the position in the quarter. Cambiar Opportunity Fund said in its second-quarter 2026 investor letter that AI compute expansion and memory shortages extend Applied Materials’ growth runway, so see the Cambiar letter here.

Applied Materials shares are down about 34% over the past month. The selloff started after the midterm elections, when investors began to worry that a Democratic Congress would make it harder to build new data centers. Fewer data centers would mean fewer new chip factories, and that hurts equipment makers first.

Bulls say the fear is too big. Federal lawmakers can write rules, but state and local governments decide whether a data center gets built, and many of them depend on the property taxes and jobs these projects bring. Bulls also say that even a slower build-out still needs a steady flow of new chip factories, and a company that sells one of the widest ranges of chip-making equipment sits at the center of that spending. Applied Materials also holds more cash than debt, which gives it room to get through a slow stretch.

#9 Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX)

Markel Stake as of Q3: $21.5 Million

Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX) installs heating, cooling, and electrical systems in commercial buildings, and data centers are a growing part of its work. Markel held 13,000 shares at the end of September 2026, or 0.17% of its reported portfolio. The portfolio data shows no change to the position in the quarter. Parnassus Investments said in its second-quarter 2026 letter for the Parnassus Growth Equity Fund that Comfort Systems is positioned to benefit from accelerated AI investment, so check the Parnassus letter here.

Comfort Systems USA is one of the under-the-radar AI plays in Tom Gayner’s portfolio. Data centers run hot, so every new one needs large cooling and power systems that a contractor has to install and maintain. Bulls say that work will keep coming because big tech companies plan to keep spending on data centers, and Comfort Systems also serves hospitals, schools, and factories.

Bears point to the stock’s drop of about 40% over the past three months, which followed fears that a Democratic Congress will slow new data center projects. A contractor’s revenue falls quickly if projects get delayed.

#8 Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Markel Stake as of Q3: $29.2 Million

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) is a consulting and technology services company that helps big businesses build and run AI systems. Markel held 159,400 shares at the end of September 2026, which is 0.23% of its reported portfolio. The portfolio data shows no change to the position in the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital said in its second-quarter 2026 letter for its Large Cap Strategy that Accenture could be an undervalued AI opportunity after its sharp selloff. See the Diamond Hill thesis here.

Accenture is an AI play because companies need help putting AI to work, and Accenture gets paid to do it. More than 400 clients started their first advanced AI projects with Accenture in fiscal 2026.

Bulls say the stock is still cheap. Investors feared AI would replace consultants, and those fears have faded. The shares trade at about 18 times forward earnings, below their 10-year average of about 26. The lower multiple comes with slower growth. Analysts expect Accenture’s earnings per share to grow about 5% in fiscal 2027, in line with company guidance of 3% to 6%, and about 8% in fiscal 2028.

Bears say AI can hurt Accenture as well as help it. Baird downgraded the stock after a near 100% gain since June, saying clients could use AI to work more efficiently and give Accenture less work.

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