Occidental Petroleum stock falls after Buffett not expected to buy majority stake

Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss stock performance for OXY after reports suggest Warren Buffett will not acquire a controlling stake in the stock.

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BRAD SMITH: Let's talk about OXY because we can certainly see exactly where those shares are moving here on the day. And there's been a lot of news swirling over the course of this year in entirety around Warren Buffett and his relationship to Occidental. Ticker symbol OXY, shares moving lower by about 3.6% right now this morning after news that Warren Buffett, a.k.a. Buffett the stock market slayer, not expected to bid for control despite reviving approval for biggest stake-- or a bigger stake in the company. Buffett was given permission to buy up to 50% of the drillers' shares, but it's not expected to lead to a full takeover of the resurgent energy company. Check mark, yes. I will keep Buffett the stock market slayer as something that we can weave in in the future.

JULIE HYMAN: That's-- I like that-- it's something I've never heard--

BRAD SMITH: I was workshopping it over the weekend.

JULIE HYMAN: --but I like that one. Sozz, you've been watching this story really closely, and you had theorized that maybe Buffett would come in and do this kind of thing. I mean, that said, those Occidental shares have been climbing. We know that Warren Buffett likes a deal, right? And it doesn't look like-- at least it's less of a deal than it was, right, as we've seen the stock go up.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, very important nuggets inside "The Wall Street Journal" story on this, guys. One, you're right, Julie, the "Journal" noting that Buffett could wait for the price of oil to decline to come in here and make a bid because if oil prices go down, you theoretically would see a lower price for Occidental. And then number two, another little nugget in that story, is that it appears that the Occidental board would approve of a fair offer from Buffett if oil prices come down and Occidental shares get hit. So it's not that Buffett has no interest in taking the company private. He might just sit back and wait for a better price.

BRAD SMITH: Yeah, and OXY shares have been extremely reactive with every type of move that he's made increasing that ownership and as we even see that playing out here on the day, perhaps Occidental shareholders were hoping, maybe, that he would be more aggressive, or at least the inclination that he might take it over at some point and weave that into the broader Berkshire Hathaway holdings even more so than they already have. But as of right now, shares moving lower just by about 3 and 1/2%. We'll keep a close eye on that.