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.
#7 Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)
Markel Stake as of Q3: $38.3 Million
Markel held 355,500 shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) at the end of September 2026, which is 0.30% of its reported portfolio. The portfolio data shows no change to the position in the quarter. The London Company said in its second-quarter 2026 investor letter that strong AI infrastructure orders drive confidence in Cisco. See the full letter here.
Morgan Stanley recently downgraded Cisco to equal-weight from overweight, and the reasons apply to the whole AI story. The shares rose 43% over the past 12 months, compared with 14% for the S&P 500. Morgan Stanley says a large part of the AI-driven gain is already in the price. Cisco trades at about 19 times forward earnings, a higher multiple than it has had in the past, so there is little room for the stock to beat what investors already expect. Morgan Stanley also pointed to lower gross margins from Cisco’s AI business, and it was worried about the margins on the cloud business. It added that some customers may have bought early to get ahead of Cisco’s price increases, which could mean weaker orders later.
Morgan Stanley still likes the business itself. It sees several years of double-digit growth, mostly from cloud customers, and says that supports a higher multiple than Cisco has had before.
#6 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Markel Stake as of Q3: $151.7 Million
Markel held 209,163 shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) at the end of September 2026, or 1.18% of its reported portfolio. It trimmed the position by 10.68% in the quarter. Retail investors are debating whether Meta is dead money or the best cheap AI stock. Click to see both sides.
Many readers will be surprised to see Meta in Tom Gayner’s portfolio. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Gayner looks for profitable companies with good management and a reasonable stock price. Meta is now spending so much on AI data centers that its free cash flow turned negative in its most recent quarter.
Bears say Meta’s only real moat is its huge base of users, which lets it sell ads at high prices. They say AI models are becoming commodities, because many companies now sell similar ones, so Meta will struggle to earn much from its own. Muse, Meta’s new AI model, is growing fast but is still small next to the cost of the data centers behind it. Meta also has no big cloud business to rent out its spare computing capacity, unlike Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet, the Journal reported. That means Meta has to earn back its AI spending through its own apps.
Bulls point to those same apps. In the most recent quarter, Meta’s average price per ad rose 14% and the number of ads shown rose 10% from the same quarter a year ago. The stock trades at about 21 times forward earnings, close to its own five-year average of about 22. Bulls say that is a fair price for a business that still grows ads this fast.
#5 Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)
Markel Stake as of Q3: $202.8 Million
Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) makes analog and embedded chips used in factories, cars, and electronics. Markel held 724,000 shares at the end of September 2026, or 1.58% of its reported portfolio. The portfolio data shows no change to the position in the quarter. We compared Analog Devices with Texas Instruments and ON Semiconductor on whether AI infrastructure and acquisitions can drive growth. Click to see the comparison.
Texas Instruments shares fell about 11% in a single day during the recent AI selloff, even though the company had just beaten expectations in its latest quarterly results. Investors sold chip stocks across the board because they fear the AI data center boom will end sooner than expected. Texas Instruments is more tied to that trade than before. Data centers made up about 13% of its revenue in its latest quarter, up from 9% in 2025. The stock had also risen more than 60% this year before the drop, and it trades at about 31 times forward earnings, above its own five-year average of about 28. Analog chips are also cyclical, and analysts expect growth to slow after this year.
Bulls say the sell-off hit a business that is just starting a recovery. Analog chip makers went through several weak years, and now industrial and car customers are buying again. Data center sales are growing as well. Supply is tight, and longer wait times for chips give Texas Instruments room to raise prices. Bank of America said in October that the analog industry is only about a year into an upcycle that could run through 2027, and it named Texas Instruments among the strongest performers. Texas Instruments has also finished a heavy factory build-out and expects to spend less on new plants, which leaves more cash to pay dividends. The stock yields about 2%.
#4 Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Markel Stake as of Q3: $275.8 Million
Markel held 537,630 shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the end of September 2026, which is 2.15% of its reported portfolio. The portfolio data shows no change to the position in the quarter. Investors are nervous about whether Microsoft can keep growing, and we asked if its AI spending is finally paying off. Read the full analysis here.
Investors are nervous about how much Microsoft is spending on AI. Bulls say the shares can keep rising even if the AI hype slows, because most of Microsoft’s business has nothing to do with AI. Companies around the world already run on Microsoft 365, Windows, and Azure, and switching away is slow and costly. Microsoft sells its AI tools, including Copilot and its Foundry platform, directly to those same customers, so it does not need to find new buyers. If AI demand cools, the software subscriptions and the cloud business keep paying.
Microsoft is also the one big AI spender that still generates positive free cash flow. Other large tech companies, including Alphabet and Amazon, reported negative free cash flow in their latest quarters. Management expects Microsoft to stay free cash flow positive in fiscal 2027. That gives it more room to keep building data centers without borrowing as heavily as its rivals.
#3 Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)
Markel Stake as of Q3: $396.6 Million
Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) designs analog and mixed-signal chips used in industrial machines, cars, and communications equipment. Markel held 999,671 shares at the end of September 2026, or 3.09% of its reported portfolio. The portfolio data shows no change to the position in the quarter. Madison Investments named Analog Devices one of the top five contributors in its first-quarter 2026 letter for the Madison Large Cap Fund. Open the letter coverage here.
Analog Devices designs analog and mixed-signal chips used in industrial machines, cars, and communications equipment. Markel held 999,671 shares at the end of September 2026, or 3.09% of its reported portfolio. The portfolio data shows no change to the position in the quarter.
Analog Devices shares are down about 10% over the past month as worries about AI spending hit chip stocks. Bank of America in October said the analog chip industry is only about a year into an upcycle that could run through 2027, with industrial and car customers showing the strongest demand. It named Analog Devices, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments as the strongest performers in the group.
Bank of America argued that if AI spending slows while demand stays strong, the spending cycle could last longer, and chip stocks could earn higher valuations.
#2 Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Markel Stake as of Q3: $506.0 Million
Markel held 2,030,760 shares of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of September 2026, or 3.94% of its reported portfolio. The portfolio data shows no change to the position in the quarter. We looked at whether Amazon is a good AI stock for long-term investors. Read our answer here.
Bulls say Amazon shares can keep rising in the age of AI because Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud business, already runs the computer systems of a huge number of companies. Those companies keep their data and apps on AWS, and moving them to another cloud is slow and expensive. AI projects need storage, databases, networking, and regular computing, and most customers want to run AI next to the data they already have on AWS. Amazon also designs its own chips, Trainium for AI and Graviton for general computing, which lowers its cost of running AI and gives customers a cheaper option. The company plans to sell Trainium outside AWS starting in late 2027.
AI is also only one of Amazon’s businesses. Amazon has an online store with a delivery network that rivals struggle to copy, a Prime membership that keeps shoppers coming back, and an advertising business that sells ads to the sellers on its site. If AI spending cools, those businesses keep making money.
The main risk is the cost of building data centers. That spending is pushing free cash flow down, and analysts expect it to stay negative through 2027. If AI demand slows, Amazon would be left with expensive capacity it does not need.
#1 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Markel Stake as of Q3: $937.0 Million (Class C) and $178.9 Million (Class A)
Markel held 2,749,860 Class C shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) at the end of September 2026, which is 7.30% of its reported portfolio. It also held 519,975 Class A shares (NASDAQ:GOOGL), or 1.39% of the portfolio, after trimming that position by 9.10% in the quarter. The Class C position did not change. Investors still like Alphabet despite AI search threats, and we explain why. Click to read why.
The fact that Gayner was holding onto Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) as a major position might sound surprising to many. Alphabet shares are in the spotlight as AI remains the biggest threat to search, the bread and butter of the company’s business. Bulls argue the threat is smaller than it looks because Alphabet builds AI itself and sells it to other companies. The company has its own AI models and chips, a large cloud business, and YouTube, so search is only one of several businesses that make money from the AI boom. In its recently reported quarterly results, Alphabet said revenue grew 25% and Google Cloud revenue grew 103% from the same quarter a year ago, as demand for AI infrastructure picked up.
Bulls also point to the valuation. After the recent pullback in the shares, Alphabet trades at about 14 times forward earnings, well below its own five-year average of about 23 times. Alphabet also has fans among well-known investors, and you can see why Cathie Wood and Stanley Druckenmiller agree on Amazon and Alphabet.
