warren buffett
Warren Buffett.
  • Warren Buffett dodged some of the painful downturn in banking stocks this year.
  • Berkshire Hathaway has exited Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and other lenders since early 2020.
  • Buffett said he soured on some banks after they misled investors and made basic mistakes.

Warren Buffett's mass sale of bank stocks is looking mighty shrewd given Wall Street's troubles this year.

Since the start of 2020, the famed investor's Berkshire Hathaway has exited a bunch of lenders that have seen big sell-offs this year: Wells Fargo (-5%), BNY Mellon (-9%), Goldman Sachs (-14%), M&T Bank (-23%), US Bank (-28%), and PNC Financial (-30%). One notable exception among the disposals is JPMorgan (+5%), but even Jamie Dimon's banking behemoth has trailed the S&P 500 (+9%) in 2023.