Berkshire Hathaway ve 2. čtvrtletí odkoupila vlastní akcie za 4,5 miliardy USD, po 235 milionech USD v 1. čtvrtletí. Tím potvrdila, že vedení považuje akcie za podhodnocené.
After a bit of a dry spell during Warren Buffett's last year and a half as chief executive officer before he stepped down at the end of last year, Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA +1.76%) (BRKB +1.46%) new CEO, Greg Abel, revived repurchases of the conglomerate's own stock.
It wasn't much. The company only bought back $235 million worth of Berkshire shares during Q1, a pittance compared to its current cash hoard of roughly $366 billion and market cap of more than $1.1 trillion.
Still, all big trends start out as small ones. Is that the case here? It certainly looks like it.
But first things first.
Not quite like other companies' stock buyback programs A stock buyback is precisely what it sounds like -- a publicly traded company repurchases its own shares already issued and outstanding. The purpose is to make the shares that remain in the public float more valuable by virtue of reducing the total number of them without reducing the company's underlying value. They're a relatively common way of adding shareholder value when there's not a great deal of other opportunistic uses for a company's idle cash.
Berkshire's buyback program isn't a particularly specific one. It's quite open-ended, in fact. As an official Securities and Exchange Commission filing in March explained: "Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s long-standing common stock repurchase policy permits us to repurchase shares of our Class A and Class B Common Stock at any time we believe the repurchase price is below our intrinsic value, conservatively determined."
Image source: Getty Images.
Perhaps more important regarding any decision to buy its own stock, there's no predetermined budget or targeted share count reduction either. The same disclosure explains: "Our repurchase policy does not obligate us to acquire any specific number of shares. ... The timing and total amount of stock repurchases will depend on the market prices of our Class A and Class B common shares, market conditions, and other relevant factors." It then adds, "Repurchases may be suspended or discontinued at any time without prior notice."
A well-funded increase in repurchases And Berkshire's used this flexibility, to be sure.
As noted, after spending tens of billions of dollars on buybacks between 2018 and 2024 (much of which materialized during and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which upended many stocks, including this one), Berkshire Hathaway suspended repurchases in the latter half of 2024 and all of 2025. It's not like the company turned hyper-aggressive on this front in Q1 of this year either. Again, it only spent $235 million buying back its own stock during that three-month stretch. That's practically nothing compared to the $10.1 billion in operating income the company reported for the same quarter. It was an almost negligible number.
It was also just the beginning, however. During the second quarter, Berkshire Hathaway spent a considerably greater $4.5 billion buying more of its own stock, before scooping up another $3.3 billion worth of its shares just last month, which is not reflected in the company's second-quarter report.
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It's a promising development for Berkshire shareholders, though. In the long run, it makes their stakes more valuable by taking some of the company's shares out of circulation. In the near term, however, it confirms this stock is priced below what management believes it's actually worth.
Management may well be right, too. Although its insurance arm had a modest 9% year-over-year dip in Q2 operating income, its breadwinning manufacturing, services, and retailing businesses pumped up their profits by 24% to nearly $4.5 billion. Berkshire Hathaway Energy and privately owned railroad BNSF also saw solid earnings growth, with the former boosting its bottom line to the tune of 27% during Q2. All together, operating profits increased 16% year over year.
Berkshire Hathaway's equity holdings in publicly traded companies like Coca-Cola and Alphabet also had net gains of nearly $12.7 billion in the second quarter of this year.
Still not the top reason to buy it now The key question for interested investors is whether Berkshire is a buy simply because of the company's newly rekindled and relatively aggressive stock repurchases.
In and of itself, it isn't -- plenty of lousy companies still fund buybacks.
Given everything else Berkshire Hathaway's clearly doing right at this time, though, its ramped-up repurchases certainly bolster the already bullish case. That case is still mostly built on growing operating earnings, and now, the fact that Abel is starting to do something with all of that idle cash. For the first time in a long time, Berkshire bought more stocks for its equity portfolio in Q2 than it sold. Not a whole lot more, mind you -- only about $20 billion worth. But it's a start that a bunch of increasingly impatient shareholders were waiting to see.
It will be interesting to see exactly which stocks Abel bought and sold when those disclosures are filed later this month. But Berkshire Hathaway's still a compelling buy in the meantime, even without that information.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA +1.37%)(BRKB +1.05%) spent about $4.5 billion repurchasing its stock in the second quarter, the company said in Saturday's earnings report. It was Berkshire's biggest quarter of buybacks in nearly two years -- and 19 times the $235 million it spent in the first quarter. Measured against the company's roughly $1.12 trillion market value, three months of buying retired about 0.4% of Berkshire.
That market value comes from the 1,431,693 Class A equivalent shares Berkshire reported outstanding on June 30 and Friday's $521.80 close for the Class B shares (each equal to 1/1,500th of an A share).
Image source: Getty Images.
The pace is what's new -- and to me, it's the story. Berkshire repurchased no shares at all in 2025, Warren Buffett's final year as CEO. Not only did buybacks resume in March under CEO Greg Abel, but they accelerated sharply in the second quarter.
Berkshire's buyback rule leaves the decision to one person's judgment: The CEO, after consulting the chairman, must believe the shares sell for less than the company is conservatively worth. Abel evidently believes it, even with the stock trading near its 52-week high of $525.
The buying didn't stop when the quarter did. The new 10-Q filing lists share counts as of July 29 on its cover page. They show about 4,600 more Class A equivalent shares retired after June 30 -- shares worth about $3.6 billion at Friday's close.
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Could the buying keep scaling? The program's only hard limit is liquidity: No repurchases can be made if they would pull Berkshire's cash, cash equivalents, and Treasury bills below $30 billion. That war chest stood at about $365.5 billion on June 30, down from about $397 billion three months earlier, as Abel found other uses for it. So the binding constraint is Abel's judgment of value, not cash.
Berkshire pays no dividend, so repurchases are the one way the company returns cash directly to its shareholders. For a shareholder, the arithmetic so far is modest. Retiring 0.4% of the shares in a quarter -- likely 1.5% to 2% a year if that pace holds -- nudges per-share figures rather than transforming them.
Of course, buybacks near a 52-week high can look like bad timing if the judgment on value is wrong. But Abel has kept at it, from the first purchases in March into July. That, more than the 0.4%, is probably the thing worth remembering from Saturday's report.
Berkshire Hathaway vzrostla asi o 2,5 % poté, co oznámila lepší výsledky za druhé čtvrtletí a vyšší alokaci kapitálu pod novým CEO Gregem Abelem. Tržby dosáhly 101,8 miliardy USD a EPS činil 6,02 USD.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A) shares gained about 2.5% on Monday after the conglomerate reported stronger-than-expected second quarter results and increased its capital deployment under new CEO Greg Abel.
Revenue came in at about $101.8 billion, above analyst expectations of $96.52 billion.
The company posted earnings per share of $6.02, above estimates of $5.13.
Operating earnings rose to $12.98 billion from $11.16 billion.
Investment gains contributed significantly to the increase in net earnings. Berkshire recorded $12.68 billion in investment gains during the quarter, including $10.9 billion from changes in unrealized gains on its equity investments.
The results also highlighted a more active approach to capital deployment under Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett as chief executive earlier this year.
Berkshire repurchased about $4.5 billion of its own shares during the second quarter and was estimated to have spent another $3.4 billion on buybacks in July.
The company also deployed $10 billion into Alphabet through a private placement and allocated $6.8 billion toward the acquisition of US homebuilder Taylor Morrison.
Berkshire became a net buyer of equities during the quarter, purchasing $23.5 billion of stocks while selling $3.7 billion. This marked a change from Berkshire's previous pattern, ending a 14-quarter streak in which the company was a net seller of stocks.
Berkshire Hathaway v první polovině roku 2026 pod vedením Grega Abela investovala zhruba 26 miliard USD, ale hotovost na rozvaze klesla jen asi o 8 miliard USD. Zároveň byly znovu spuštěny zpětné odkupy akcií.
SummaryBerkshire Hathaway is now aggressively deploying cash under Greg Abel, with $26B invested in H1 2026 and buybacks resuming.Q2 operating earnings rose 16.3%, but excluding FX gains, true growth was 5.2%, with insurance segment notably deteriorating—GEICO's combined ratio worsened to 91.2%.Capital deployment narrowed the cash pile only slightly; at $365.5B, meaningful reduction requires >$34B annual deployment, highlighting the challenge of scale.With shares at 1.50x book and insurance headwinds, I downgrade to Hold; my buy target is $470–480/share, or 1.35x book. BlackSalmon/iStock via Getty Images
During the first six months of 2026, Greg Abel, in his new role as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B), deployed ≈$26B, however Berkshire's cash position on its balance sheet shrank only by ≈$8B.
Greg
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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of BRK.B either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Berkshire Hathaway ve 2. čtvrtletí zvýšila provozní zisk o 16 % na 12,98 miliardy USD. Zhruba 1,2 miliardy USD z nárůstu ale pocházelo z přecenění dluhu kvůli kurzovým pohybům.
Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA -0.75%)(BRKB -0.54%) second-quarter operating earnings, reported Saturday, rose 16% year over year -- to $12.98 billion from $11.16 billion, an increase of about $1.8 billion. And about $1.2 billion of that increase came from one unusual place: the changing dollar value of Berkshire's own debt.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Berkshire and its finance arm owe billions in euro-, pound-, and yen-denominated senior notes (about 4.85 billion euros, 1.75 billion pounds, and 2,481 billion yen at par).
Accounting rules require the company to restate what those borrowings are worth in dollars every quarter, with the change flowing through earnings. The swings can be large simply because the borrowings are.
In the second quarter of 2025, that revaluation produced an $877 million after-tax loss. This year, the same item produced a $326 million gain. The difference between those two figures, about $1.2 billion, sits inside operating earnings, in an "other" category that jumped to $1.27 billion from $32 million a year ago.
The rest of the quarter was more ordinary. Manufacturing, service and retailing earnings rose 24% year over year to $4.5 billion, the strongest part of the report. Berkshire Hathaway Energy earned $891 million, up 27%, and BNSF railroad earnings grew 6% to $1.6 billion. Insurance went the other way: Underwriting profit fell 13% to $1.7 billion, and insurance investment income slipped 9% to $3.1 billion.
Strip the currency swing out of both periods, and operating earnings grew to about $12.7 billion from about $12.0 billion a year earlier. That's growth of about 5%.
There's some irony in where the item sits. Berkshire urges shareholders to ignore its reported net earnings ($25.7 billion this quarter), because accounting rules push unrealized stock-portfolio swings through that figure -- swings the company itself calls usually meaningless. Operating earnings are the measure Berkshire points investors toward instead.
However, currency moves on debt are arguably the same kind of noise. They're driven by exchange rates, not by how the railroad or the insurers ran, and they'll likely swing the other way in some future quarter. They just happen to sit inside the operating number.
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And this isn't a one-quarter quirk.
The first quarter's comparison had the same kind of help, worth about $1 billion, as a $249 million currency gain replaced a $713 million year-ago loss. For the first half, operating earnings rose 17% as reported -- but about 6% with the currency effect stripped from both years.
In short, a quarter of about 5% underlying growth, with manufacturing accelerating and insurance softening, is an ordinary Berkshire result. Solid, not spectacular. The 16% headline is the number that needs an asterisk next to it.
Warren Buffett daruje zbývající podíl na akciích Berkshire Hathaway nadacím svých dětí, které do roku 2034 získají celý jeho podíl v hodnotě asi 140 miliard USD. To může po jeho odchodu zvýšit tlak na výplatu hotovosti.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA -0.75%)(BRKB -0.54%) ended the first quarter of 2026 with a massive cash balance of nearly $400 billion. Investors have historically been OK with the giant conglomerate holding cash because longtime CEO Warren Buffett's investment success has been impressive.
However, Buffett handed the CEO job to hand-picked successor Greg Abel at the start of 2026. And now Buffett is handing his large ownership stake in Berkshire Hathaway to foundations run by his children. Nothing is likely to change today, but over the longer term, these two dynamics could lead to a very different model for the company's cash.
Image source: Getty Images.
Large shareholders have a direct line to management and the board Warren Buffett is the largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway stock. So, for a very long time, the former CEO's goals were directly aligned with the interests of the company's most important shareholder. If Buffett wanted to hold cash because he didn't see anything worth buying, there wasn't likely to be much complaint. And even if there was, Buffett's sway as CEO and the largest shareholder meant that little would likely change.
For a long time, Buffett was donating shares to the foundation run by Bill Gates. Gates' involvement with Jeffrey Epstein has changed that, with Buffett now donating his shares to foundations run by his own children. The plan is to give all of his remaining shares to these foundations. By 2034, or sooner if he dies, the foundations will own his entire stake in the company he once ran, valued at around $140 billion.
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It is unlikely that his children will attempt to change Berkshire Hathaway in any way while Buffett is alive. However, after his passing, there could be a shift. The key is that foundations often use dividends to further their philanthropic goals. That's why Hormel (HRL -0.28%) and Hershey (HSY -0.37%) are such reliable dividend stocks; they both count foundations set up by company founders as major shareholders. Hormel is even a Dividend King, with 50 consecutive annual increases.
Berkshire Hathaway could easily afford to pay a dividend Berkshire Hathaway is technically an insurance company. Most insurance companies pay dividends. The massive cash hoard on the balance sheet clearly indicates that funds are available to pay dividends.
It would be completely reasonable for Buffett's children to come together and push for a dividend. And that, in turn, would allow them to fund their foundations without having to sell Berkshire Hathaway stock. Given the size of the ownership stake the foundations will own, the company may find it difficult to say no. That said, if a dividend were initiated, it might lead more investors to want to own Berkshire Hathaway stock. So, in the end, a dividend might not be the worst outcome.
Berkshire Hathaway ve 2. čtvrtletí po více než třech letech poprvé nakoupila akcie za čistých zhruba 20 miliard USD a ukončila 14 čtvrtletí trvající sérii prodejů. Hotovost klesla na 365,5 miliardy USD.
The stock market in 2026 has rewarded patience less than usual. The S&P 500 is up 13% on the year, and momentum names have led the charge while cash-heavy value investors sat on the sidelines wondering when the next fat pitch would arrive.
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A | BRK-A Price Prediction)(NYSE:BRK-B) has been the poster child for that patience — building the largest cash pile in its history rather than chasing a market that Warren Buffett openly said he found too expensive. That patience just ended.
The Cash Pile Finally Shrinks Berkshire ended the first quarter of 2026 with $397.4 billion in cash and Treasury bills, a record and the culmination of a strategy Buffett began years earlier and Greg Abel continued after taking over as CEO on January 1. Between 2022 and 2024 alone, Berkshire sold a net $172.9 billion more in stocks than it bought. That selling didn’t stop when Abel took the reins — it accelerated into a streak of 14 consecutive quarters as a net seller of equities, one of the longest such stretches in Berkshire’s history.
This morning’s second-quarter earnings release broke that streak. Berkshire’s cash position fell to $365.5 billion, and for the first time in more than three years, Abel was a net buyer of stocks — purchasing roughly $20 billion more in equities than he sold. Berkshire also stepped up share buybacks to $4.5 billion for the quarter, a sharp jump from the token $235 million spent in Q1.
Holding % of Portfolio Rank Apple 20.0% 1st American Express (NYSE:AXP) 14.9% 2nd Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) 9.8% 3rd Bank of America 9.1% 4th Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) 8.8% 5th Alphabet is the newest name on that list, and it didn’t get there by accident. Berkshire revealed a $10 billion investment in Alphabet earlier this year, earmarked to help fund the company’s AI infrastructure buildout, and it’s fast becoming an Abel favorite. Berkshire’s Alphabet stake grew 224% in Abel’s first quarter alone, expanding from 17.8 million shares at the end of 2025 to nearly 58 million shares in Q1. Buffett has said he personally initiated the position, but Abel is the one who decided how far to run with it.
Key Takeaway Granted, one quarter of net buying doesn’t undo three years of net selling — Berkshire still holds $365.5 billion in dry powder, plenty to fund another Alphabet-sized bet or absorb a real market pullback. That said, the signal here matters more than its size. Abel has shown he’ll deploy capital when he sees value, and Alphabet’s rise into the top five holdings — alongside a stepped-up buyback pace — suggests he’s done waiting.
For shareholders, that’s the clearest sign yet that Berkshire’s multiyear defensive crouch is giving way to something more offensive. In the end, that’s a reason for smart investors to keep paying attention to what Abel buys next.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Berkshire Hathaway vykázala ve 2. čtvrtletí čistý zisk 25,667 miliardy USD, což je více než dvojnásobek oproti loňsku. Provozní zisk vzrostl na 12,983 miliardy USD.
Berkshire’s operating results for the second quarter and first six months of 2026 and 2025 are summarized in the following paragraphs. However, we urge investors and reporters to read our 10-Q, which has been posted at www.berkshirehathaway.com. The limited information that follows in this press release is not adequate for making an informed investment judgment.
Earnings of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries for the second quarter and first six months of 2026 and 2025 are summarized below. Earnings are stated on an after-tax basis. (Dollar amounts are in millions, except for per share amounts).
Second Quarter
First Six Months
2026
2025
2026
2025
Net earnings attributable to Berkshire shareholders
$
25,667
$
12,370
$
35,773
$
16,973
Net earnings includes:
Investment gains (losses)
12,684
4,970
11,444
(68
)
Other-than-temporary impairment of investment in Kraft Heinz
—
(3,760
)
—
(3,760
)
Operating earnings
12,983
11,160
24,329
20,801
Net earnings attributable to Berkshire shareholders
$
25,667
$
12,370
$
35,773
$
16,973
Net earnings per average equivalent Class A Share
$
17,868
$
8,601
$
24,889
$
11,801
Net earnings per average equivalent Class B Share
$
11.91
$
5.73
$
16.59
$
7.87
Average equivalent Class A shares outstanding
1,436,443
1,438,223
1,437,279
1,438,223
Average equivalent Class B shares outstanding
2,154,664,073
2,157,335,139
2,155,918,015
2,157,335,139
Note: Per share amounts for Class B shares are 1/1,500th of those shown for Class A shares.
In the table above, investment gains (losses) in each period predominantly relate to our investments in equity securities. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) require that we include the changes in unrealized gains (losses) of our equity security investments as a component of investment gains (losses) in our earnings statements. Investment gains (losses) in 2026 include gains of $10.9 billion in the second quarter and $3.9 billion in the first six months and in 2025 include gains of $1.5 billion in the second quarter and losses of $5.9 billion in the first six months due to changes during the second quarter and the first six months in the unrealized gains that existed in our equity security investment holdings. Investment gains (losses) in 2026 also include after-tax realized gains on sales of investments of $1.8 billion in the second quarter and $7.5 billion in the first six months and in 2025 include $4.2 billion in the second quarter and $6.6 billion in the first six months. Investment gains (losses) in the table above also include losses of $0.7 billion in the second quarter and first six months of 2025 from other investments.
The amount of investment gains (losses) in any given quarter is usually meaningless and delivers figures for net earnings per share that can be extremely misleading to investors who have little or no knowledge of accounting rules.
An analysis of Berkshire’s operating earnings follows (dollar amounts are in millions).
Second Quarter
First Six Months
2026
2025
2026
2025
Insurance-underwriting
$
1,731
$
1,992
$
3,448
$
3,328
Insurance-investment income
3,059
3,367
5,738
6,260
BNSF
1,558
1,466
2,935
2,680
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company
891
702
2,005
1,799
Manufacturing, service and retailing
4,470
3,601
7,669
6,661
Other *
1,274
32
2,534
73
Operating earnings
$
12,983
$
11,160
$
24,329
$
20,801
*
Includes foreign currency exchange gains related to non-U.S. Dollar denominated debt in 2026 of $326 million in the second quarter and $575 million in the first six months and in 2025 includes foreign currency exchange losses of $877 million in the second quarter and $1.59 billion in the first six months.
Berkshire acquired approximately $4.5 billion in treasury shares during the second quarter of 2026, bringing the six-month total to about $4.8 billion. On June 30, 2026, there were 1,431,693 Class A equivalent shares outstanding. At June 30, 2026, insurance float (the net liabilities we assume under insurance contracts) was approximately $177.5 billion, an increase of approximately $1.1 billion since yearend 2025.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliations of such measures to the most comparable GAAP figures in accordance with Regulation G are included herein.
Berkshire presents its results in the way it believes will be most meaningful and useful, as well as most transparent, to the investing public and others who use Berkshire’s financial information. That presentation includes the use of certain non-GAAP financial measures. In addition to the GAAP presentations of net earnings, Berkshire shows operating earnings defined as net earnings exclusive of investment gains (losses), impairments of goodwill and intangible assets and other-than-temporary impairments of equity method investments.
Although the investment of insurance and reinsurance premiums to generate investment income and investment gains or losses is an integral part of Berkshire’s operations, the generation of investment gains or losses is independent of the insurance underwriting process. Moreover, as previously described, under applicable GAAP accounting requirements, we are required to include the changes in unrealized gains (losses) of our equity security investments as a component of investment gains (losses) in our periodic earnings statements. In sum, investment gains (losses) for any particular period are not indicative of quarterly business performance.
About Berkshire
Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, services and retailing. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B.
Cautionary Statement
Certain statements contained in this press release are “forward looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not guaranties of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those forecasted.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-B | BRK-B Price Prediction) on December 31, 2025, after six decades leading the conglomerate he transformed from a struggling textile mill into a $1 trillion empire. The “Oracle of Omaha” left his successor, Greg Abel, with a very concentrated portfolio: almost 70% of Berkshire’s $381 billion portfolio is invested in just six stocks. Abel, who has served as vice chair overseeing non-insurance operations, officially took over as CEO on January 1, 2026. At 95 years old, Buffett isn’t fully retiring—he remains chair of the board and plans to continue coming to the Omaha headquarters as much as before. However, he has stated he will be “going quiet” and leaving all decision-making to Abel.
While Berkshire Hathaway has erased much of its 2026 underperformance against the S&P 500, it still boils down to a few compounding and frustrating headwinds: a $397 billion cash pile earning T-bill yields while the market rallied hard, a deliberate retreat from equities at exactly the wrong time, and a leadership transition that shook investor confidence. Its sheer size makes transformative acquisitions nearly impossible, and its “old economy” tilt toward railroads, insurance, and energy meant it sat out the AI-driven tech surge that powered index returns. Remember, the only reason the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are up this year is the technology sector’s outperformance. In short, Berkshire got penalized for being cautious and boring, though for patient, long-term investors, that may ultimately prove to be a feature, not a bug.
Here are the five reasons why Berkshire Hathaway is my favorite stock for the rest of 2026 and beyond.
1. Gigantic Pile of Cash Berkshire Hathaway sits on the largest cash pile in its history: $397.4 billion at the end of Q2 2026, equal to roughly 59% of its investable assets. In fact, it’s enough cash to buy 476 of the S&P 500. That massive reserve acts as a powerful safety net in the event of a recession or market downturn, while giving Abel tremendous flexibility to pursue attractive acquisitions or make bold capital investments in businesses Berkshire already owns. When the right deal finally appears—and it always does—this kind of financial firepower is truly exceptional.
2. Earnings Are Strong Berkshire’s operating earnings rose 18% to $11.35 billion in Q1 2026, boosted by a robust 28.5% jump in insurance underwriting profit to $1.72 billion. Net income more than doubled to $10.1 billion. This isn’t accounting noise; it’s a clear reflection of genuine operational strength across Berkshire’s massive portfolio of businesses. Second-quarter earnings are due next week, and Wall Street expects them to come in solidly.
3. Portfolio Built to Withstand Disruption Over the past 60 years, Berkshire has assembled a portfolio of operating businesses and investments that are remarkably resilient to disruption from AI and emerging technologies. Railroads, insurance, energy, and consumer staples form the core. These are classic businesses protected by wide, durable competitive moats that are unlikely to be upended overnight.
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4. Buybacks Have Started Berkshire ended its 21-month buyback moratorium because its shares finally became attractive enough to repurchase. The price-to-book ratio fell to 1.4 in March, well below the 60% to 80% premium range that had kept buybacks on hold for nearly two years. Consistent with Berkshire’s long-standing policy, the company repurchases shares only when management believes the stock is trading below its intrinsic value. The resumption of buybacks is therefore a clear signal that management views the current price as undervalued—and if they do, investors likely will too. Plus, financial analyses, including estimates from Barron’s, indicate that Berkshire repurchased between $5 billion and $11 billion of its stock in the second quarter.
5. Greg Abel Is the Right One to Lead the Way Abel personally purchased $15 million of Berkshire shares. That amount is roughly equal to his entire after-tax annual salary. In addition, he has committed to repeating the buy each year going forward. Given his decades-long tenure at the company, Abel is unlikely to make abrupt changes to Berkshire’s direction. However, his more active management approach could still unlock meaningful growth in the years ahead. Skin in the game and strong cultural continuity send a powerful positive signal. A signal that will likely continue to resonate with investors for decades to come.
A List of Berkshire Hathaway’s Wholly Owned Private Companies When you own the shares, you own a lot more than the 26 companies in the stock portfolio.
Insurance
GEICO (auto insurance) General Re (reinsurance) Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group Alleghany Corporation Kansas Bankers Surety Transportation and Logistics
BNSF Railway (one of the largest freight railroads in North America) FlightSafety International (pilot training) NetJets (fractional aircraft ownership) Energy and Utilities
Berkshire Hathaway Energy (parent of MidAmerican Energy, PacifiCorp, NV Energy, Northern Powergrid) Manufacturing and Industrial
Marmon Holdings (100+ industrial businesses) Precision Castparts (aerospace/industrial components) IMC International Metalworking Companies Acme Brick Company OxyChem (acquired in January 2026 for $9.7 billion—the most recent major addition) Retail and Consumer
Dairy Queen See’s Candies Ben Bridge Jeweler Borsheims Fine Jewelry Nebraska Furniture Mart Building and Home
Benjamin Moore & Co. (paints) Clayton Homes (manufactured housing) Shaw Industries (flooring) Johns Manville (insulation/building products) Taylor Morrison (acquisition recently completed) Finance and Services
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (real estate brokerage) CORT Business Services (furniture rental) Berkadia (mortgage financing, 50% JV) Berkshire has a staggering 800 subsidiaries worldwide, but these are the flagship names that drive the bulk of operating earnings.
The Berkshire Hathaway shares are trading roughly 5% off their all-time high, sitting on a record cash pile, with buybacks just resuming and a new CEO who’s eating his own cooking. For long-term investors, that’s a rare combination. That said, always do your own due diligence before investing. With the stock market overbought and the AI/data center trade still driving investor groupthink, this may be the best opportunity to own a legendary company.
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Greg Abel v Berkshire Hathaway snížil podíl v Chevronu o 35 % a výrazně zvýšil sázku na Alphabet, který se stal novou pátou největší pozicí konglomerátu.
For the first time in more than half a century, the trillion-dollar conglomerate that Warren Buffett helped build, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA +0.21%)(BRKB +0.36%), is in uncharted territory. The famed Oracle of Omaha retired as CEO on Dec. 31 (he remains chairman of the board), handing the keys to Berkshire's $355 billion investment portfolio to longtime protégé Greg Abel.
Abel wasted little time making his presence felt. During the first quarter, he sent 16 stocks to the chopping block and reduced six other positions, including integrated oil and gas titan Chevron (CVX +2.35%). But Berkshire's new boss also found the new apple of his eye in Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL +6.73%)(GOOG +6.88%).
Warren Buffett retired as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO on Dec. 31, 2025. Image source: The Motley Fool.
Chevron has been a continuous holding for Berkshire for nearly six years. However, the 45,780,506 shares that were dumped during the first quarter represent the largest single-quarter reduction in shares since Buffett opened the position in 2020.
Simple profit-taking is one possible reason Abel slashed Berkshire's stake in Chevron by 35% to begin the year. Between the start of 2026 and the end of the first quarter, Chevron's shares rallied from $152 to $207. For a notoriously cyclical company, this is a mammoth move. It would also have delivered triple-digit percentage returns since Buffett's initial purchases in 2020.
But there may be more to this story than just profit-taking.
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Chevron, like virtually all drilling companies, benefited from surging crude oil prices brought on by the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Given that energy supply disruptions are historically short-lived, Abel may have viewed this as an opportune time to lock in gains.
Additionally, Chevron is no longer historically inexpensive. After closing out 2023 and 2024 at forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios of 11 and 10, respectively, Chevron's forward P/E was approaching 18 by the end of the first quarter. Abel is a stickler for value, and Chevron's value proposition has faded a bit.
Image source: Getty Images.
Berkshire's new boss can't stop buying Alphabet On the other hand, Abel bought 36,403,656 shares of Alphabet's Class A shares (GOOGL) in the March-ended quarter and opened a new position in the Class C shares (GOOG) by purchasing 3,585,215 shares. These purchases more than tripled Berkshire's stake in Google's parent company.
But he wasn't finished. On June 1, Alphabet announced what would become an $84.75 billion equity offering, $10 billion of which was to be purchased by Berkshire in a private placement ($5 billion of each share class). As of the end of July, Alphabet was a nearly $30.8 billion position, and Berkshire's new No. 5 holding.
The beauty of Alphabet is that its foundation is built atop a sustainable moat. The Google search engine accounted for over 91% of internet search traffic in July. Couple this with YouTube, the second-most-visited social site behind Google, and you have a recipe for exceptional ad pricing power.
-- Fiscal.ai (@fiscal_ai) July 30, 2026 However, it's Alphabet's artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions that can drive its valuation and cash flow significantly higher. Since Alphabet integrated generative AI solutions and large language model capabilities into Google Cloud, the world's No. 3 cloud infrastructure service platform by total spend, sales growth for this high-margin segment has gone parabolic.
Alphabet is to Greg Abel what Apple was to Warren Buffett.
Greg Abel nasměroval Berkshire Hathaway víc k nákupům celých firem než akcií. Sám prosadil akvizice za 6,8 miliardy USD, zatímco do akcií vložil pod 3 miliardy USD.
Greb Abel's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA +0.21%) (BRKB +0.36%) is shaping up to be similar to Warren Buffett's, but with the new CEO's signature decisive, bold stamp.
One of the features that stands out in his approach is a focus on acquiring whole companies. That's not anything new; Berkshire Hathaway owned almost 200 businesses outside of its stock portfolio before he became CEO at the beginning of the year. But with its record nearly $400 billion stockpile, Abel is finding greater opportunity in buying whole businesses than stocks.
Let's look at what that means for shareholders.
What's happening at Berkshire Hathaway with Abel at the helm Abel demonstrated that he's taking a new direction with his portfolio moves in the first quarter. He sold 15 positions, concentrating on its highest-conviction stocks, and bought two new ones: Delta Air Lines and Macy's. Those positions are worth $2.6 billion and $55 million, respectively.
He also tripled the company's position in Alphabet, adding more than $10 billion in Alphabet stock, although Buffett has taken credit for the Alphabet purchase.
Image source: Getty Images.
The company has also purchased two whole subsidiaries since Abel took office. It completed the purchase of OxyChem from Occidental Petroleum for $9.7 billion in January, a deal started when Buffett was still CEO, and it acquired homebuilder Taylor Morrison in June for $6.8 billion.
Buffett praised Abel's dealmaking abilities, saying that Berkshire's new CEO spearheaded the acquisition. "Greg did that faster than I could have done it, smoother than I could have done it, and I never talked to the CEO. He has launched."
The implication is that Abel put more of the company's money into buying whole businesses -- $6.8 billion -- than into buying stocks -- under $3 billion -- in the deals he worked himself.
With $398 billion in cash, there are many opportunities Investors can speculate about why Berkshire is keeping so much cash, but Buffett said that he simply doesn't see great opportunities in the market. It is certainly richly valued today, and it's driven by artificial intelligence (AI) upstarts, some of which have high valuations and no profits. Those aren't the kinds of investments Buffett or Abel looks for.
With $398 billion in cash, Abel is finding value in whole companies instead. When he buys businesses, their financials get folded into Berkshire's, and shareholders gain from operating results rather than portfolio moves.
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This strategy also removes some optionality from the business; you can trade stocks for cash more easily than sell companies. Berkshire also looks to buy companies it can hold forever, and it rarely sells a subsidiary.
Although it's only been one quarter, and it's too early to say this will be Abel's pattern, it dovetails with this model of sticking to bigger plays with greater concentration. And shareholders, as well as Berkshire Hathaway fans, may see more of this activity driving the company's work.
The market expects Berkshire Hathaway B (BRK.B - Free Report) to deliver a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company's earnings picture, but a powerful factor that might influence its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.
The earnings report might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $5.24 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +1.4%.
Revenues are expected to be $95.3 billion, up 3% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core.
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Berkshire Hathaway B?For Berkshire Hathaway B, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -5.53%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Berkshire Hathaway B will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Berkshire Hathaway B would post earnings of $4.82 per share when it actually produced earnings of $5.25, delivering a surprise of +8.92%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates two times.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
Berkshire Hathaway B doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Expected Results of an Industry PlayerUnited Fire Group (UFCS - Free Report) , another stock in the Zacks Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, is expected to report earnings per share of $0.7 for the quarter ended June 2026. This estimate points to a year-over-year change of -22.2%. Revenues for the quarter are expected to be $375.43 million, up 11.9% from the year-ago quarter.
Over the last 30 days, the consensus EPS estimate for United Fire has remained unchanged. Nevertheless, the company now has an Earnings ESP of -3.60%, reflecting a lower Most Accurate Estimate.
When combined with a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold), this Earnings ESP makes it difficult to conclusively predict that United Fire will beat the consensus EPS estimate. The company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Berkshire Hathaway má rekordních zhruba 397 miliard USD v hotovosti a pokladničních poukázkách, protože dál prodává akcie a drží peníze v krátkodobých státních dluhopisech. Greg Abel už naznačil větší zájem o technologie, včetně AI.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA +0.24%) (BRKB +0.10%) is sitting on a mountain of money that keeps getting taller. The company ended its most recent quarter with a record of roughly $397 billion in cash and Treasury bills, up from about $348 billion a year earlier and just $129 billion three years ago.
That raises two questions worth exploring: Why does the pile keep growing, and where might new CEO Greg Abel finally put some of it to work, especially in artificial intelligence?
Image source: Getty Images.
Why the cash keeps piling up The simplest reason is that Berkshire has been a net seller of stocks for more than a dozen quarters in a row, unloading well over $150 billion more in equities than it has bought since late 2022. It trimmed its enormous Apple stake, and it has struggled to find bargains in a market trading near record highs. Buffett built his career on refusing to overpay, and Abel is carrying that discipline forward.
Meanwhile, cash is no longer dead money. With interest rates elevated, Berkshire parks most of its hoard in short-term Treasury bills that now generate enormous income. In fact, the interest on that cash alone earns more in a year than most companies in the S&P 500 make in total profit. So the pile grows from two directions at once: Berkshire keeps selling stock, and the cash it holds keeps compounding.
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A record cash pile is a high-class problem, but it is still a problem, because cash left idle drags on returns over time. Abel has already signaled he is willing to act, most notably by building a stake worth tens of billions of dollars in Alphabet, a rare and telling move into big technology. That suggests the next major purchase could well carry an AI flavor, an area where Berkshire remains underexposed relative to its size.
If I had to name the most logical candidate, it would be Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM +7.64%). It fits the Berkshire mold almost perfectly: a dominant, wide-moat business that manufactures nearly every advanced AI chip on earth, gushes cash, and trades at a reasonable valuation, far cheaper than most AI stocks. Best of all, Berkshire already knows it. The company bought a stake in late 2022, then sold it within months, with Buffett citing geopolitical tension around Taiwan as a reason.
Here is why that history matters. Abel has shown more willingness than Buffett to tolerate that kind of risk, and Taiwan Semiconductor has only grown more essential to the AI economy since Berkshire exited. Revisiting a wonderful business it once owned, now at the heart of the biggest technology shift in a generation, would be a very Berkshire thing to do.
Microsoft (MSFT +15.51%), with its enterprise moat and its stake in OpenAI, is another name that fits the mold, one that Buffett largely avoided partly because of his friendship with Bill Gates.
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The caveat worth naming This is a prediction and is not a certainty, and I would hold it loosely. The same geopolitical worries that pushed Buffett out of Taiwan Semiconductor have not disappeared, and Abel may simply keep hoarding cash until a fat pitch arrives. The real lesson is less about guessing the exact trade and more about the kind of business Berkshire hunts for: durable, cash-rich, and fairly priced.
Berkshire's swelling cash pile reflects patience and discipline, not panic, and it gives Abel enormous firepower for the day the right opportunity appears. When he does deploy, expect a wonderful business bought at a sensible price, and among AI-linked names, Taiwan Semiconductor fits that description better than almost anything else. My honest read is that watching how Berkshire spends this cash will reveal a great deal about how the post-Buffett era intends to invest.
UBS zvýšila cílovou cenu Berkshire Hathaway před výsledky za 2. čtvrtletí, protože akcie podle ní obchodují s 8% diskontem k vnitřní hodnotě. Odhaduje také zpětné odkupy za zhruba 8,5 miliardy USD.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A) shares are trading at an 8% discount to intrinsic value, UBS said, raising its price target on the conglomerate ahead of its second-quarter earnings release.
UBS lifted its target to $877,848 for Class A shares from $854,596, and to $585 for Class B shares. The bank also raised its 2Q26 earnings estimates to $7,973 per A-share and $5.32 per B-share, both up 3%, citing heavier buybacks, stronger results at BNSF railroad and lower catastrophe losses in insurance.
UBS estimates Berkshire repurchased about $8.5 billion of stock between April 15 and July 14, based on a 13D/A filing tied to Warren Buffett's charitable stock donation. The bank called the buyback pace bullish, noting shares traded at 1.45 times book value over the period.
The quarter included the closing of Berkshire's Taylor Morrison acquisition and a $10 billion investment in Alphabet to fund AI development.
For 2026 and 2027, UBS raised operating earnings estimates by 1.3% and 0.8%, respectively, to $21.05 and $21.32 per B-share, largely on higher assumed buybacks of $8.6 billion, up from $1.5 billion previously.
UBS expects GEICO's underwriting margins to keep narrowing as the unit leans into growth through flat to declining rates and higher ad spend, forecasting an 88.3% combined ratio versus 83.5% a year earlier. Reinsurance premiums are expected to rise 5%, helped by a new quota-share deal with Tokio Marine, while competitive pricing pressures growth elsewhere.
Among non-insurance units, BNSF faces a modest fuel-cost headwind before turning to a tailwind next quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Energy is expected to post revenue up 5% and pre-tax operating earnings up 31%, while the manufacturing, service and retailing segment is seen growing earnings 3.9%.
Berkshire Hathaway dokončila akvizici Taylor Morrison za 72,50 USD za akcii v hotovosti. Společnost se stane čtvrtou největší developerskou společností domů v USA.
Taylor Morrison to unify with Berkshire Hathaway's site-built homebuilding operations
, /PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Taylor Morrison today announced the completion of Berkshire Hathaway's acquisition of Taylor Morrison for $72.50 per common share in cash, representing a total equity value for Taylor Morrison of approximately $6.8 billion and total enterprise value of approximately $8.5 billion.
Under Berkshire, Taylor Morrison will continue to be led by CEO Sheryl Palmer, who will oversee the integration of Taylor Morrison's portfolio of brands—including Esplanade, Yardly and Taylor Morrison Home Funding—with Berkshire Hathaway's site-built homebuilding operations that comprise Clayton Properties Group, a collection of 15 established regional and local homebuilders. Combined, the integrated operation will serve renters, entry-level, move-up, and resort lifestyle segments.
"Today marks an important step forward as Taylor Morrison joins Berkshire. This best-in-class national homebuilder will lead our vision for a unified site-built homebuilding operation," said Berkshire Hathaway's Chief Executive Officer Greg Abel. "Together, we will help more Americans achieve their dream of homeownership."
"We have always believed in the strength of our business, and today Berkshire Hathaway has confirmed that belief," said Taylor Morrison Chief Executive Officer Sheryl Palmer. "As we enter this new chapter, the scale and reach we gain by unifying with Berkshire and Clayton's regional site-built homebuilders is transformative. We'll now serve more customers, in more markets, with more choices—while maintaining the specialized local expertise that has made us successful. We're thrilled to build upon that success as we scale to create a combined homebuilding platform unlike anything in the industry."
Combined, Taylor Morrison and Clayton Properties Group delivered nearly 23,000 site-built home closings in 2025, operate in 21 states and 52 housing markets, and serve more than 700 communities nationally—positioning the combined business as the fourth largest homebuilding operation in the United States.
Transaction Details
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Moelis & Company LLC served as financial advisors, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor, Mayer Brown LLP served as financial services regulatory counsel to Taylor Morrison, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Baker McKenzie LLP served as counsel to Berkshire Hathaway.
About Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, services and retailing. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B.
About Taylor Morrison
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taylor Morrison is one of the nation's leading community developers and homebuilders. It serves entry-level, move-up, and resort lifestyle homebuyers and renters under its family of brands—including Taylor Morrison, Esplanade, and Yardly. Taylor Morrison has been recognized as America's Most Trusted® Builder by Lifestory Research since 2016, was honored as one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies in 2026, and on Forbes' Most Trusted and Best Companies in America lists in 2025.
Contacts:
Berkshire Hathaway
Chuck Chang
(402) 346-1400
Taylor Morrison
Media:
Jaclyn Rygg
(480) 376-0641
[email protected]
Berkshire Hathaway měla k 31. březnu v hotovosti, ekvivalentech hotovosti a krátkodobých amerických státních dluhopisech 397 miliard USD. Z této hotovosti v 1. čtvrtletí získala 3,1 miliardy USD na úrocích, což odpovídá 12,4 miliardy USD anualizovanému čistému zisku po zdanění.
Warren Buffett might no longer be the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA +0.53%) (BRKB +0.24%), but the business still has the same issue it had under the leadership of the Oracle of Omaha. It has more cash than it knows what to do with.
But this deep liquidity has become a source of meaningful profit. In fact, Berkshire Hathaway earns more from its cash pile in a year than most S&P 500 index companies report in total earnings. Here's the math.
Image source: Getty Images.
A sizable passive income stream As of March 31, the Nebraska conglomerate had $397 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term U.S. Treasuries on its balance sheet. That figure has trended higher in recent years, as the company has been a net seller of stocks.
Instead of simply holding dollars, this huge sum is primarily allocated to U.S. Treasuries. So, Berkshire is able to earn a risk-free return on this capital. During the first quarter of this year, the interest income it collected, coming mainly from its Treasury holdings, was $3.1 billion.
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If rates go up, it's no surprise that this figure also rises. With the federal funds rate currently not far from its highest level in the past 15 years, Berkshire Hathaway's balance sheet benefits.
On an annualized basis, the conglomerate generated $12.4 billion in after-tax profit in the first quarter, funded by its cash pile. This is higher than most companies in the benchmark S&P 500 index. In fact, it's about the same as Walt Disney's trailing-12-month net income.
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Waiting for a better use of capital Buffett, who is still chairman, and CEO Greg Abel certainly wish they didn't have a large cash hoard. The ideal situation is for the business to find ample opportunities to deploy this capital at a higher potential rate of return. That's the ultimate objective that can drive shareholder value for Berkshire Hathaway's investor base.
The fact that there is so much cash on the balance sheet is a clear sign of the lack of opportunities the market is presenting right now. As a company with a value-focused philosophy, Berkshire Hathaway is cautious due to the elevated valuations it's been seeing.
The almost $400 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and Treasuries, however, can still be viewed in a very positive light, even though Berkshire is not earning the returns it could if its cash were actually used to buy stocks or entire businesses. This gives the conglomerate a substantial financial cushion, not only making it a safer company, but also allowing it to act quickly when opportunities eventually present themselves.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy se stává nepřímým vítězem boomu umělé inteligence díky rostoucí poptávce datových center po elektřině. Greg Abel uvedl, že zhruba polovina energetických operací nyní řeší potřeby spojené s AI.
Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB -0.05%) by avoiding things he did not understand, and for the most part, that has kept the company on the sidelines of the AI stock frenzy.
Yet Berkshire may have more AI exposure than it appears, and it comes from an unlikely place: not a chipmaker, but one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Berkshire Hathaway Energy. This sprawling collection of regulated utilities is quietly turning into a backdoor winner of the artificial intelligence boom.
Image source: Getty Images.
How a utility becomes an AI winner The connection is simple once you see it. AI data centers are astonishingly hungry for electricity, and someone has to generate and deliver that power. Berkshire Hathaway Energy owns utilities across the country, including MidAmerican in Iowa, NV Energy in Nevada, and PacifiCorp in the West, and they are watching demand surge.
In Iowa, a cluster of mega data centers now accounts for roughly 8% of peak electricity load, and management expects data center consumption to keep climbing for years.
Here is why that matters for profits. Regulated utilities make money in two reinforcing ways. They sell more electricity as demand rises, and, more importantly, they earn a regulated return on the capital they invest to serve that demand. Berkshire Hathaway Energy is in the middle of a roughly $34 billion capital plan to build out generation, storage, and transmission, and every dollar of approved investment becomes a base on which it earns steady profits for decades.
Berkshire's own CEO, Greg Abel, who ran this business, told shareholders that about half of its energy operations are now addressing AI-related power needs. That is a striking statement for a company usually associated with power lines and pipelines, not silicon.
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Some things to consider I would keep expectations measured. Utilities grow slowly and swallow enormous amounts of capital, and their returns depend on regulators approving rate increases, which is never guaranteed. Berkshire Hathaway Energy also carries real liabilities, including wildfire exposure at PacifiCorp that has cost it dearly. And because Berkshire is so vast, even a thriving energy unit will not move the overall stock the way a hot chip stock might. This is a slow, steady contributor, not a moonshot.
The lesson here is that AI's beneficiaries extend far beyond the obvious names. Berkshire may have barely touched AI stocks, but through Berkshire Hathaway Energy it owns a genuine stake in the electricity boom powering the entire movement. For shareholders, it is a reminder that Berkshire's famous caution does not mean missing the trend entirely. Sometimes the smartest AI exposure is not in the chips at all, but in the unglamorous business of keeping them running.
Warren Buffett řekl, že sám inicioval investici Berkshire Hathaway do Alphabetu, která nyní činí zhruba 31 miliard USD. Zároveň přiznal, že měl akcie koupit už dříve.
Warren Buffett has a confession: He missed the boat on Alphabet (GOOG 2.17%)(GOOGL 2.05%).
The 95-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA 0.34%)(BRKB 0.42%) told CNBC on Wednesday that he personally initiated his company's investment in the Google parent. He also admitted he should have bought in years ago, back when Alphabet was "asset-light and a markets darling."
So, Buffett is making up for lost time. Berkshire now holds roughly $31 billion in Alphabet stock: about $21 billion in public shares, plus a $10 billion private placement that was part of Alphabet's $80 billion equity raise in June. At this point, it's the fifth-largest holding in Berkshire's portfolio, behind Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Bank of America.
Close-up photo of Berkshire Hathaway chairman, Warren Buffett. Image source: The Motley Fool.
A trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there The timing is notable. Bond markets are getting nervous about artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure spending. Tech titans spent roughly $1 trillion on data centers last year, and a Motley Fool research report shows construction plans totaling $4 trillion from now to 2030.
According to Apollo Global Management, coverage ratios for hyperscaler bonds dropped from nearly 5x in February to under 2x in July.
In other words, investor appetite for AI-related bonds has cooled significantly; back in February, buyers wanted 5 times as many bonds as were offered, but by July, that ratio had dropped to less than double. The mood is still bullish, but significantly less than before.
The "who holds the risk if AI returns are delayed" question is getting louder. It's like a trillion-dollar game of hot potato.
Why Alphabet's approach to funding AI is different Buffett's answer, apparently, is that Alphabet won't be the one left holding the bag.
Unlike competitors leaning on bonds, private credit, and off-balance-sheet structures to fund data centers, Alphabet raised equity. That's dilutive to shareholders, but it doesn't saddle the company with debt service. Buffett isn't lending money to the AI build-out. He's buying an ownership stake in a company he thinks will outlast most of the competition as the AI boom plays out.
"They're more likely to be a winner based on their record than probably 90% or 95% of what gets merchandised through Wall Street," Buffett said.
That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of the broader AI financing boom, but a clear vote of confidence for Alphabet.
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Fifth place in Berkshire's portfolio is still pretty good Still, Buffett tempered expectations. "I would say that I don't like it as well as at least four or five other businesses that we own," he said.
Even so, the Google parent is in great company. Berkshire's larger holdings are all world-class companies with long histories of wealth creation.
Alphabet's fundamentals support Buffett's confidence. Alphabet posted $110 billion in first-quarter 2026 revenue, up 22% year over year. Google Cloud grew 63%, and its backlog nearly doubled to more than $460 billion.
Buffett's bet suggests he thinks Alphabet can spend more than $180 billion on data centers in 2026 and still come out ahead. Not everyone financing the AI race will be able to say the same. Warren Buffett is buying Alphabet in 2026, and you should consider following his lead.
American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet and American Express. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, American Express, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Since Greg Abel took over as Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA 0.34%)(BRKB 0.42%) CEO at the start of the year, investors have been watching to see what he does with the conglomerate's war chest. Filings with Japanese regulators gave an early answer last quarter.
Berkshire disclosed that its stake in trading house Mitsubishi (MSBHF 1.14%) climbed to 11.1% as of April 30. Its stake in Sumitomo (SSUMY 3.31%) reached 10.3% as of May 12, up from 9.3%. And Marubeni (MARUY 0.35%) is on the list, too.
Berkshire's buying has pushed its holdings in both Sumitomo and Marubeni above 10%, cementing the conglomerate's position as the largest shareholder of both companies.
These are three of the five Japanese trading houses (Itochu and Mitsui are the other two) that Berkshire began buying in 2019 under Warren Buffett, who remains chairman. The original thesis has already paid off handsomely. So why does Berkshire keep adding? To me, the numbers make the case better than any story could.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
1. Mitsubishi Mitsubishi is Berkshire's largest Japanese position. The trading houses (Japan calls them sogo shosha) are conglomerates in their own right, each owning interests in a vast array of businesses in Japan and around the world.
At the end of 2025, Berkshire owned 10.8% of Mitsubishi, a stake that cost $4.2 billion and was worth $9.2 billion, according to Berkshire's annual report. The position also paid Berkshire $273 million in dividends last year, the largest payout of the five. And the April filing shows the conglomerate kept buying anyway.
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2. Marubeni Marubeni has been Berkshire's best performer of the group. The stake cost about $1.6 billion and had grown to about $4.5 billion by the end of 2025 -- nearly a tripling. It added another $105 million in dividends last year.
Berkshire owned 9.8% of Marubeni at year-end. The latest buying lifted that above 10%.
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Abel's newest dollars, in other words, went to Berkshire's biggest winner.
3. Sumitomo Sumitomo rounds out the trio. Berkshire's position cost $1.9 billion and stood at $4.0 billion at the close of 2025, and it paid $102 million in dividends last year. The May filing put Berkshire's ownership at 10.3%, up a full percentage point.
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Impressive gains Add it all up, and Berkshire's five trading house stakes cost $15.4 billion and were worth $35.4 billion at the end of 2025. The five companies paid Berkshire a combined $862 million in dividends last year. That works out to a yield of about 5.6% on Berkshire's original cost.
The trend is worth noting, too. A year earlier, the same five positions had cost $13.8 billion and were worth $23.5 billion. So in 2025, Berkshire put about $1.6 billion of new money in, and the market value of its stakes grew by nearly $12 billion. The gap between what Berkshire paid and what it owns keeps widening.
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The funding makes the math even better. Berkshire has borrowed in Japan an amount roughly equivalent to the yen it has invested, at an average interest cost of just 1.2%. Put another way, the dividends cover the borrowing costs several times over before counting a penny of share-price appreciation.
And the strategy is still very much in use. Berkshire issued another 272.3 billion yen of senior notes in April.
There's also room to keep going. Berkshire originally agreed to keep its ownership of each company below 10%, but Buffett wrote in his February 2025 shareholder letter that as Berkshire approached the limit, the five companies agreed to relax the ceiling moderately.
"I expect that Greg and his eventual successors will be holding this Japanese position for many decades," Buffett wrote in the same letter.
And in his first annual letter as CEO, Abel put the positions on equal footing with the company's flagship stock holdings. He wrote that Berkshire views its Japanese investments as "comparable to our major U.S. holdings in importance and long-term value creation opportunity."
For Berkshire shareholders, I think the buying is an encouraging early signal. Abel's first notable moves weren't a splashy acquisition or a chase after the market's artificial intelligence (AI) trade. They were more of what already works: profitable conglomerates bought at low prices, paying growing dividends, funded with cheap fixed-rate debt.
Berkshire Hathaway first bought Alphabet Class A (GOOGL) shares in the third quarter of 2025, and later increased the position in the first quarter of 2026.
Today, Berkshire Hathaway owns 54,249,798 GOOGL shares, which were worth $15.6 billion at the end of the first quarter and the company’s seventh largest stock investment.
Berkshire also took an initial stake in Alphabet Class C shares (GOOG) in the first quarter, a position worth $1 billion at the end of the first quarter, ranking 19th in the investment portfolio.
Asked about who made the Alphabet play first between Buffett and his successor Greg Abel, the Oracle of Omaha didn’t hold back.
"I initiated it," Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick on Wednesday.
Buffett said he talks all the time with Abel, including since his retirement.
"I am not doing anything that he doesn’t approve of. He’s not doing anything I don’t approve of."
As the CEO, Abel is the "decider," Buffett clarified Wednesday.
Along with investing in Class A and Class C shares, Berkshire Hathaway also participated in a private placement of $10 billion from Alphabet, helping to fund the company’s future growth.
"The trick in life is to find – I mean investing – is to find businesses that are going to earn high returns on capital for an extended period of time."
Finally taking a position in Alphabet stock in 2025, Buffett has previously expressed regret for not buying the Magnificent Seven stock sooner. Berkshire Hathaway owns the Geico insurance brand and recognized early the success of Google’s advertising business through Geico ads.
While he’s a fan of Alphabet stock going forward, Buffett remains cautious on the large amount of spending being done to compete in the AI sector.
"The real question with Google and all of its competitors now, because they’re all laying out hundreds of billions, and that’s real money. That’s the game they’re playing now. They weren’t playing that game with computer software."
Buffett also said that Alphabet is not his favorite Berkshire Hathaway position or owned business.
"I would say that I don’t like it as well as at least four or five other businesses that we own."
Buffett on Apple StockAnother stock covered in his interview with CNBC was Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which is the largest holding in the Berkshire Hathaway investment portfolio.
Even with Tim Cook stepping down as CEO, Apple is one of Buffett’s favorite stocks.
"I know more about Apple than I knew many years ago," Buffett told CNBC.
Berkshire Hathaway holds 227,917,808 AAPL shares as of the end of the first quarter, a position tat was worth $57.8 billion at the end of March and represented 22% of the investment portfolio.
"If you’re Apple, you’ve got very, very smart people all over the world shooting and trying to figure out how to make sure that, that Apple’s future, the future is as bright as the past."
Image via Shutterstock
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Warren Buffett urychluje dary akcií Berkshire Hathaway čtyřem rodinným nadacím a chce se zbavit všech svých podílů zhruba do osmi let, tedy do 31. prosince 2034. Gates Foundation už další dary nedostane.
(This is a special breaking news edition of the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.)
BUFFETT ACCELERATES DONATIONSSETS GOAL TO 'DISPOSE OF ALL' HIS SHARES IN EIGHT YEARSGIVES $6B TO FOUR FAMILY FOUNDATIONSGATES FOUNDATION CUT OFFBUFFETT ON CNBC'S 'SQUAWK' WEDNESDAY MORNINGWarren Buffett is speeding up the pace of his annual donations of Berkshire Hathaway shares to four family foundations, giving them a total of almost $6 billion now.
In a news release this morning, Buffett says, "My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years."
CNBC's Becky Quick is sitting down with Buffett in Omaha and we will bring you that interview starting at 6 am ET tomorrow (Wednesday) on "Squawk Box."
Buffett, who will be celebrating his 96th birthday next month, now owns stock in the company with a market value of more than $140 billion.
Even without taking into account potential increases in Berkshire's stock price, that implies gifts of at least $17 billion each year, more than double the $7 billion in stock he donated last year.
In the release, Buffett says, "Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034."
That excludes the Gates Foundation from any further donations, ending what Buffett said in 2006 would be a "lifetime pledge" of annual gifts to the charity established by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife, Melinda Gates.
Based on the schedule he set out at that time in which the number of shares decreased by 5% each year, he was due to donate almost $4.5 billion to the Gates Foundation this month.
watch now
Last year around this time, Buffett gave the four family foundations around $1.4 billion in gifts, so it appears this year they are also getting the donation originally earmarked for the Gates group.
In this round, Buffett is giving the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his late first wife, 9 million Class B shares with a current value of around $4.5 billion.
The three foundations run by his children, Susie Buffett's Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and Peter Buffett's NoVo Foundation, will each get 1 million Class B shares worth just under $500 million.
The release does not say whether he will also be making gifts to the family foundations at Thanksgiving as he has done in the last four years, but it seems likely given his new eight-year goal.
Last year those contributions totaled around $1.3 billion.
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported Buffett was holding back his scheduled donation to the Gates Foundation pending a law firm's review of the charity's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, with the results expected this summer.
In 2006, Buffett said he was "irrevocably committing to make annual gifts of Berkshire Hathaway 'B' shares throughout my lifetime" for the Gates Foundation's benefit as long as either Bill or Melinda Gates "remain alive and active in [its] policy-setting and administration."
But cracks in what had been a strong personal friendship with Bill Gates began to appear in 2021, when Buffett resigned as a foundation trustee two months after Bill and Melinda announced they had decided to end their 27-year marriage.
In 2024, Buffett told the Journal, "The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death," following a revision of his will that made his three children the trustees of a charitable trust that will hold "99%-plus" of his wealth.
This year, revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files about the notorious pedophile's connections to Gates put even more strain on Buffett's relationship with Microsoft's co-founder.
In March, Buffett told CNBC he has not talked to Gates "at all since the whole thing was unveiled" and "until it gets cleared up ... I just don't think it makes sense to do a lot of talking."
Asked whether we will continue to give money to the Gates Foundation, Buffett replied, "I'll wait and see what unfolds ... I don't have to make that decision today. And I haven't made it today."
"I've learned things I didn't know about something for all these years."
Over the last two decades, Buffett's Gates Foundation gifts have totaled almost $48 billion, based on the value of the shares when they were donated.
The current value of the almost 321 million shares donated to the charity is around $159 billion.
It has sold the vast majority of them over the years to help fund its operations.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTSPlease send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at [email protected]. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)
If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here.
Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here on Berkshire's website.
Berkshire Hathaway drží rekordních zhruba 397 miliard USD v hotovosti a krátkodobých státních dluhopisech. Ve 1. čtvrtletí prodala akcie za 24 miliard USD a nakoupila jen za 16 miliard USD.
U.S. airstrikes on Iran kept markets on edge last week, even as stocks near record highs mostly held their ground. For anyone wondering how the market's most disciplined capital allocator is set up for a moment like this, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB 0.35%)(BRKA +0.00%) offers a clear answer.
It is holding more cash than at any point in its history.
Famous investor Warren Buffett handed the chief executive job to Greg Abel at the end of 2025 and stayed on as chairman. But the cautious posture he spent years building hasn't changed. At the end of the first quarter, Berkshire's cash and short-term Treasury bills reached a record of about $397 billion.
This raises the question: What does a hoard this size from a disciplined conglomerate with a storied history of making good investments say about where prices stand today?
Warren Buffett. Image source: The Motley Fool.
A record pile, and a steady seller Berkshire's balance sheet at the end of March held about $58.1 billion in cash and equivalents, plus roughly $339 billion in short-term U.S. Treasury bills. Together, that is close to $397 billion sitting in the safest assets around, equal to more than a third of the entire company's market value. By Berkshire's own measure, cash has never stood so high as a share of the company.
And Berkshire keeps adding to it. In the first quarter, the company sold about $24 billion of stocks while buying only about $16 billion. That extends a net-selling streak that now runs more than three years.
The cash is hardly idle, either. At recent Treasury yields near 3.7%, the pile earns something like $12 billion a year in interest, more than many companies in the S&P 500 report in annual profit.
This isn't necessarily a market call. Buffett has long framed cash as optionality, the ability to move decisively when something cheap comes along, and Berkshire simply hasn't found enough it wants to buy at today's prices. After all, the company has to put tens of billions to work to move its own needle, so it can afford to wait for a pitch that smaller investors might swing at sooner.
Still, when the most famous value investor of the past century would rather collect a risk-free 3.7% than buy more of what's on offer, that itself says something. Personally, I take it as a quiet comment on valuations.
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What the cash has signaled before This isn't the first time Berkshire has let cash pile up. In the late 1990s, as technology stocks soared, Buffett sat out the mania and took plenty of criticism for it, until the dot-com bust vindicated the patience.
Cash climbed again ahead of the 2008 financial crisis. And when prices finally cracked, Berkshire deployed aggressively, most famously with a $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs in September 2008 that paid a 10% dividend, on terms an ordinary investor could never get.
The pattern is fairly consistent. Berkshire tends to accumulate cash when it finds few bargains, then spend it when fear creates them.
Of course, that doesn't mean a crash is coming. Buffett himself has warned against treating his cash position as a market forecast, and Berkshire has held plenty of cash through stretches when stocks just kept climbing.
What's new this time, however, is who decides when the money gets spent. Abel, not Buffett, now largely controls when this war chest gets put to work. How he deploys it may be the single biggest factor in Berkshire's returns over the next several years, and so far he has stuck to the same disciplined script. Yes, he's bought some Alphabet stock and even agreed to acquire Taylor Morrison Home. But as of the end of Q1, Berkshire remained a net seller of stocks.
So what does all of this tell investors? Not that a crash is around the corner. Buffett would likely be the first to reject that conclusion. What it does say is that patience is reasonable when prices are this high, and that Berkshire has quietly positioned itself to act if the mood sours.
(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.)
Berkshire gains ground but still trails S&P as '26 enters second halfWith 2026 a bit more than half over, Berkshire Hathaway's B shares are down 1.8% year-to-date and 12.4 percentage points behind the S&P 500's 10.7% gain. (Including dividends, the S&P is up 11.4% giving it a 13.1 percentage point lead).
A strong June for Berkshire erased almost a third of its 17.5 percentage point deficit as of June 1, its biggest losing margin of the year so far.
Even with that June bump, however, it's been a tough Q2 (+ 10 days) for Berkshire with a gain of a bit more than 3% versus the benchmark's strong tech-driven 16% advance, totally erasing what was a slim 1.8 percentage point Berkshire lead at the end of March.
Last year, Berkshire underperformed the S&P by 5.5 percentage points excluding dividends. The deficit was 7.0 percentage points with dividends included.
Berkshire execs spotted at exclusive Sun Valley conferenceBerkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel and portfolio manager Ted Weschler aren't featured in the Forbes article on "Sun Valley's Billionaire Summer Camp" now underway in Idaho.
But they are on the magazine's list of attendees and photos from CNBC's David Grogan and Brendan McDermid of Reuters provide visual evidence they are present at the annual Allen & Co. invitation-only gathering of moguls, along with names like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sam Altman.
Warren Buffett went to Sun Valley for decades but has not attended the last few years.
In 1999, at the height of the dotcom craze, he gave a notable speech at the conference warning that while the internet would be transformative, investors were expecting too much and were bound to be disappointed.
BUFFETT & BERKSHIRE AROUND THE INTERNETHIGHLIGHTS FROM CNBC'S BUFFETT ARCHIVEAI could make financial scams a 'growth industry' (2024)Warren Buffett describes seeing a convincing AI-generated video of himself that has him worried the technology will make financial scams much more effective.
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: How do you think about the role of technological advances, especially generative AI, on more traditional industries? Thank you...
WARREN BUFFETT: I don't know anything about AI. But I do — I do have — I don't — that doesn't mean I deny its existence or importance or anything of the sort.
And last year I said, you know, that we let the genie out of the bottle when we developed nuclear weapons, and that genie has been doing some terrible things lately.
And the power of that genie is what, you know, scares the hell out of me. And on, the other hand, I don't know any way to get the genie back in the bottle.
And AI is somewhat similar. It's out — it's part-way out of the bottle. And it's enormously important, and it's going to be done by somebody...
Now AI, I had one experience that does make me a little nervous. And I'll just explain it.
Very recently — fairly recently — I saw an image in front of my eyes on the screen, and it was me, and it was my voice and wearing the kind of clothes I wear. And my wife or my daughter wouldn't have been able to detect any difference. And it was delivering a message that no way came from me.
So — it — when you think of the potential for scamming people, if you can reproduce images that I can't even tell, that say, I need money, you know, it's your daughter, I've just had a car crash. I need fifty thousand dollars wired.
I mean, scamming has always been part of the American scene. But this would make me, if I was interested in investing in scamming, it's going to be the growth industry of all time.
And it's enabled in a way — you know, obviously AI has potential for good things, too, but I don't know how you — based on the one I saw recently, I practically would send money to myself over in some crazy country. (Laughter)
So I don't have any advice on how the world handles it because I don't think we know how to handle what we did with the nuclear genie.
But I do think, as someone who doesn't understand a damn thing about it, that it is — it has enormous potential for good and enormous potential for harm, and I just don't know how that plays out.
Berkshire Cash as of March 31: $397.4 billion (Up 6.5% from Dec. 31)
Excluding Rail Cash and Subtracting T-Bills Payable: $380.2 billion (Up 3.0% from Dec. 31)
Berkshire repurchased $234 million of its shares in Q1 2026.
BERKSHIRE'S TOP EQUITY HOLDINGS - Jul. 10, 2026Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S. and Japan, by market value, based on the latest closing prices.
Holdings are as of March 31, 2026, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on May 15, 2026, except for:
Alphabet, which includes the $10 billion in shares that Berkshire agreed to buy directly from the company, as announced on June 1, 2026. Berkshire has not yet formally disclosed whether the transaction has been completed. The entry is a combination of Class A and Class C Alphabet shares. The market price is a weighted average of the prices of the two classes.Mitsubishi, which is as of April 30, 2026The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTSPlease send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at [email protected]. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)
If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here.
Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here on Berkshire's website.
Greg Abel po nástupu do čela Berkshire Hathaway soustředil 30 % portfolia v hodnotě 343 miliard USD do akcií Apple a Alphabetu. Berkshire zároveň zcela prodala 16 pozic a výrazně navýšila podíl v Alphabetu.
It's a year of new beginnings for the trillion-dollar conglomerate that Warren Buffett helped build, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA 0.13%)(BRKB 0.43%). Following the Oracle of Omaha's retirement as CEO on Dec. 31, Berkshire has its first new leader in more than half a century.
Buffett's protégé, Greg Abel, is now at the helm -- and he's wasted no time making his presence felt. Since taking over, Abel has completely exited 16 positions and amassed a mammoth stake in Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL +0.25%)(GOOG 0.25%). When combined with Berkshire's largest position, Apple (AAPL 0.48%), Abel has 30% of Berkshire's $343 billion investment portfolio tied up in two foundational artificial intelligence (AI) stocks.
Warren Buffett retired as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO on Dec. 31. Image source: The Motley Fool.
Alphabet: 9.1% of invested assets There's no stock that Greg Abel has purchased more aggressively since taking over as CEO a little over six months ago than Alphabet.
During the first quarter, he more than doubled Berkshire's stake in Alphabet's Class A shares (GOOGL) and opened a position in its Class C shares (GOOG). More recently, Berkshire committed to buy a $10 billion private placement from Alphabet ($5 billion of each share class).
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Alphabet checks an important box for both Abel and his predecessor, Warren Buffett. Namely, it offers a sustainable moat. The Google search engine accounted for approximately 91% of global internet search traffic in June. When coupled with streaming platform YouTube, the second-most-visited site on the planet, it's easy to see how Alphabet commands such incredible ad pricing power.
But Alphabet's growth engine is powered by cloud infrastructure services platform Google Cloud and its AI integration. Since Google Cloud began offering clients access to generative AI and large language model solutions, sales growth for this high-margin segment has reaccelerated from 28% in the first quarter of 2025 to 63% in the comparable quarter ending in March 2026.
Image source: Apple.
Apple: 20.5% of invested assets Although Warren Buffett sold 75% of Berkshire Hathaway's Apple stake over the nine quarters leading up to his retirement, the remaining stake still accounts for more than a fifth of invested assets.
When Buffett began selling a substantial number of Apple shares, he framed the decision as being tax-driven at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in 2024. But in Greg Abel's first letter to shareholders, he alluded to Apple as a multidecade compounder. Despite being sold off heavily by Buffett, Apple isn't going anywhere.
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For well over a decade, physical devices such as iPhone, Mac, and iPad have made Apple tick. However, CEO Tim Cook has charted a new course. He's transforming Apple into a platform-driven company, led by high-margin subscription services that'll keep customers loyal to the Apple ecosystem, and the integration of AI solutions.
In June 2024, at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, the company unveiled Apple Intelligence. Apple's generative AI tool was introduced into its physical devices in late 2024/early 2025. It aims to assist users with text summarization and substantially enhance Siri's onscreen awareness.
While Apple remains dependent on sales of its physical devices, its subscription services and AI integration are expected to improve customer loyalty and bolster the company's margins.
Berkshire Hathaway drží téměř 400 miliard USD v hotovosti a krátkodobých státních pokladničních poukázkách. Při vyšších sazbách z nich získává stále více výnosu.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA +1.14%)(BRKB +1.40%) is widely followed for its investment approach, which includes buying companies outright and buying shares of publicly traded companies. However, holding cash is also an investment decision, and at the end of the first quarter of 2026, Berkshire Hathaway had nearly $400 billion in cash. It would be better if CEO Greg Abel could find attractive investment opportunities for that cash, but that cash isn't dead money anymore.
The good and the bad of cash Former Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett had a pretty simple concept around cash: If he couldn't find anything worth buying, he would hold cash. Buffett would rather wait than buy something just to buy something. Abel, his hand-picked successor, appears to have a similar mindset, noting that the cash balance rose in the single quarter that he was at the helm.
Image source: Getty Images.
That cash will be valuable during the next bear market, providing the business with a cushion. It will also give Abel the wherewithal to step in and buy while others are fearful and selling, effectively allowing the CEO to buy attractive assets while they are on sale. From this perspective, noting that the S&P 500 index (^GSPC +0.00%) is trading near all-time highs, investors should be pleased with the balance sheet positioning of Berkshire Hathaway.
The flip side of that argument is that the cash would likely yield higher returns if invested. That's true, but only if it is invested wisely. If Buffett and now Abel couldn't find anything worth buying, it is better for the money to sit in cash. A few years ago, while interest rates were near historical lows, holding cash was a real burden. But today, interest rates are higher, and cash is providing reliable low single-digit returns, with the Fed's target range for the federal funds rate currently set at 3.5% to 3.75%.
The news could get better on this front, as well. Although the new Fed chief, Kevin Warsh, had been talking about cutting rates before his appointment, the rate was held steady after his first Fed meeting. And the indication appears to be that rates will remain at current levels or perhaps rise. So Berkshire Hathaway's huge cash hoard could actually generate more income in the future, noting that the company largely holds short-term U.S. Treasury Bills ($339 billion at the end of the first quarter).
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As those government bonds roll over, Berkshire Hathaway buys new ones at the current rate. That step up in yield should happen fairly quickly, as Treasury Bills have durations that range from four weeks to a year. So the company's cash is a safety valve, a source of capital, and, increasingly, a valuable source of income. Getting paid more to wait for the right investment to come along is hard to complain about.
Berkshire Hathaway could be attractive if you are worried about the market Berkshire Hathaway is a very unique and complex company. However, if you are worried about the market's lofty levels, Berkshire Hathaway's huge cash pile could actually be a reason to buy the stock. That cash isn't the drag it once was, and it sets CEO Abel up to buy when others, perhaps including you, are fearful.
Berkshire Hathaway má rekordních 397 miliard USD v hotovosti a nový CEO Greg Abel už začal kapitál aktivně nasazovat. První čtvrtletí přineslo růst provozního zisku o 18 % meziročně.
For the first time in six decades, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB +1.61%)(BRKA +1.41%) is run by someone other than Warren Buffett. Greg Abel took over as CEO at the start of 2026, and his first months have given investors plenty to chew on -- most of all a record cash pile of about $397 billion at the end of the first quarter, up from $373 billion at the end of last year. That war chest is equal to more than a third of the company's $1.1 trillion market value.
So, with a new leader and an enormous amount of dry powder, is the stock a buy?
Image source: They Motley Fool.
Abel is already putting his stamp on it Abel has not sat still. In his first big deal, Berkshire agreed to buy homebuilder Taylor Morrison for $6.8 billion, or $72.50 a share -- a 24% premium. He also steered Berkshire into an unusual place for a firm that long avoided technology: a $10 billion private placement in Alphabet, taken at a discount, that pushed its stake in the Google parent past $26 billion. Meanwhile, he put a stop to the recent trimming of the Apple position before he took over, leaving it the portfolio's largest at about 22%. And he restarted buybacks with a repurchase of about $234 million in March, after a 21-month pause.
The pattern says a lot. Abel is deploying capital, not just hoarding it -- but selectively, waiting for a price he likes before he acts. That is recognizably the Buffett playbook, with a sharper willingness to move on a good opportunity.
Taken together, the moves sketch a CEO willing to lean into places his predecessor mostly sidestepped -- homebuilding tied to a national housing shortage, and artificial intelligence by way of Alphabet's spending on it. Warren Buffett, who stayed on as chairman, publicly praised the Taylor Morrison deal, saying Abel pulled it off faster than he could have himself. That matters because the biggest question hanging over Berkshire was never its businesses. It was whether a new hand could allocate capital with the same discipline. Early on, Abel is answering it.
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On valuation, Berkshire trades at about 1.5 times book value, close to its 10-year average, and around 15 times earnings. That is neither cheap nor expensive. What you get for it is a collection of durable businesses -- a sprawling insurance operation, the BNSF railroad, a large energy unit, and an equity book worth more than $300 billion -- plus that record pile of cash.
The operating businesses are pulling their weight, too. First-quarter operating earnings rose about 18% year over year, helped by the insurance units whose float gives Berkshire cheap capital to invest. Those earnings are lumpy (insurance almost always is), but the collection of railroad operations, utilities, and wholly owned businesses under the stock generates meaningful, growing profit that doesn't depend on which way the equity portfolio swings in a given quarter.
And the company's cash is the real swing factor. In a jittery market -- and the recent sell-off in chip stocks is a reminder that volatility always finds its way back -- $397 billion of ready capital is an asset, giving Abel the means to pounce if prices fall. The flip side, however, is that the same cash raises the stakes on how well he deploys it. A misjudged megadeal is the clearest downside, and the fresh tech tilt adds both some opportunity and a risk to a famously tech-averse portfolio. With that said, Apple has been Berkshire's largest equity holding for years. So maybe the growing Alphabet stake is just a normal evolution of Berkshire's business.
On balance, I think Berkshire is a reasonable buy here for patient investors. It isn't a bargain, but it is a fairly priced set of high-quality businesses backed by a record war chest and a new CEO who has shown he will act. The Abel era looks like continuity with a harder edge -- and at about 1.5 times book value, that strikes me as a fair price to pay for it.
Greg Abel ve svém prvním roce v čele Berkshire Hathaway zredukoval akciové portfolio z 42 na 29 pozic, což je nejméně za více než deset let. Zároveň navýšil podíl v Alphabet a ukončil pozici v Amazonu.
Warren Buffett is a tough act to follow. He is arguably the greatest investor of his time, transforming Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA +1.41%)(BRKB +1.40%) into a massive holding company with almost 200 subsidiaries and a $330 billion equity portfolio, and he has trounced the S&P 500 over time.
However, Greg Abel, Buffett's handpicked successor, made his mark on the company in the first quarter of 2026, his first as CEO. Here's what it looks like, and how it could change the company's trajectory.
Image source: Getty Images.
Out with the old In his first annual shareholder letter as CEO, Abel committed to upholding the values that shaped Berkshire Hathaway over the 60 years Buffett ran it. He said that "Berkshire's culture and values remain unchanged and will continue into perpetuity," and he specified the commitment to allocating capital efficiently with a business underpinned by a robust insurance operation. He echoed Buffett's maxim that the company's job is to be "exceptional stewards of our shareholders' capital."
He laid out the principles behind his investing strategy, which include:
Investing in companies that Berkshire understands and that have durable, long-term economic moats. Choosing partners with integrity who understand their own customers. Avoiding companies that could tarnish Berkshire's reputation and aren't good for society. Acting quickly and concentrating the portfolio in a few, high-conviction stocks. Staying disciplined. In the company's equity positions, Abel followed these principles when he made his moves. Most noticeable was the immediate termination of most of its smaller positions, followed by a dive straight into the fourth principle to consolidate the portfolio into fewer high-conviction positions. The equity portfolio went from 42 to 29 positions, the lowest number in more than a decade.
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In with the new Abel also expanded the company's position in Alphabet, which is a rare tech stock in the portfolio. One of the stocks closed out was Amazon, so Berkshire remains with two artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, the other being perennial Buffett favorite Apple. Apple can be viewed as a consumer goods company, but Alphabet is more of a pure-play tech stock.
While the portfolio is still highly invested in consumer goods and financial stocks, and the new positions in Macy's and Delta Air Lines are classic Buffett-style stocks, it could signal that Abel feels more comfortable understanding Alphabet and its role in the economy. As the shift to digital and AI continues at a rapid pace, it appears that Abel is willing to invest in it.
Jennifer Saibil has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends Delta Air Lines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Berkshire Hathaway v 1. čtvrtletí výrazně přikoupila Delta Air Lines, Lennar a Alphabet. Největší sázka byla na Delta a Alphabet, zatímco Lennar nakupovala v době slabšího trhu.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Q1 2026 13F filing, dated May 15, 2026, covering positions held as of March 31, 2026, offers the cleanest read yet on how Greg Abel is steering Berkshire’s $300+ billion equity book. The early-summer ritual of dissecting those moves has investors hunting for signals on where the most patient institutional capital sees value. Three names stood out for the size and conviction of the buying. 13F snapshots are point-in-time and may not reflect current holdings, but the message is clear: Berkshire is leaning into beaten-down cyclicals and one mega-cap AI compounder.
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL | DAL Price Prediction) is the headline grabber. Berkshire exited every airline during COVID, and Abel’s team just reversed course with a brand-new position of 39,809,456 shares worth roughly $2.65 billion. That is a deliberate, high-conviction re-entry.
The fundamentals back the call. Delta’s Q1 FY26 earnings report delivered adjusted EPS of $0.64, up 44% year over year, on revenue of $14.20 billion (+9%) with free cash flow of $1.227 billion. premium ticket revenue rose 14%, loyalty revenue rose 13%, and the American Express remuneration crossed $2.00 billion (+10%). Diversified high-margin revenue now accounts for 62% of total adjusted revenue. CEO Ed Bastian guided the June quarter to “$1 billion of profit” with EPS of $1.00 to $1.50, and the full-year framework calls for EPS of $6.50 to $7.50 and free cash flow of $3 billion to $4 billion.
The market is validating the thesis. Delta is up 23% since the 13F filing date and 26% year to date, with shares at $89.05 against a $58.23 billion market cap. Sentiment is leaning the same way, with a composite sentiment score of 62.03 (bullish, medium confidence).
Risk: Fuel is the swing variable. Adjusted fuel expense rose 8% to $2.59 billion last quarter, and management flagged a projected $2 billion-plus year-over-year fuel cost increase in the June quarter, which keeps a downward bias on capacity until that improves.
Lennar Lennar (NYSE:LEN) saw a 43% increase in shares held. The buy ran straight into a soft quarter, exactly the kind of dislocation Berkshire historically rewards.
Lennar’s Q2 FY26 results, filed June 11, 2026, showed EPS of $1.24 (down from $1.81) on revenue of $7.94 billion (down from $8.38 billion), with gross margin on home sales compressing to 16% from 18% and average sales price down 5% to $371,000. Operationally: construction cycle time fell to a record-low 121 days from 132, construction costs improved 2% sequentially, and Lennar runs an asset-light strategy with less than 5% of land on the balance sheet. The company also repurchased 5 million shares for $447 million at an average $89.35 during Q2, near current levels.
CEO Stuart Miller framed the setup bluntly: “The fundamental shortage of housing in America has not been solved. Demand is real, deferred, and building.” The gap between current 13% incentive levels and a normalized 4% to 6% is narrowing for the first time in three years, which is the leading indicator that matters.
Shares trade at $92.72 with a $19.96 billion market cap, down 14% year to date and down 20% over one year. That weakness is precisely what Berkshire was buying.
Risk: Mortgage rates remain elevated, net homebuilding debt jumped to $1.98 billion from $643 million at the end of Q4 2025, and buyer incentives at 13% are still doing heavy lifting. Margins need that incentive number to compress.
Alphabet Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the most aggressive add of the quarter, with Berkshire growing the Class A position by 204% and initiating a brand-new Class C (GOOG) stake. That is a portfolio-level statement on AI infrastructure.
The Q1 FY26 numbers explain the conviction. Alphabet delivered EPS of $5.11 versus $2.63 consensus on revenue of $109.90 billion (+22%), with operating income of $39.70 billion (+30%) and a 36% operating margin. Google Cloud put up $20.03 billion in revenue (+63%) with backlog nearly doubling quarter over quarter to more than $460 billion. Consumer AI is monetizing: 350 million paid subscriptions, Gemini Enterprise paid MAU growth of 40% QoQ, and Waymo running more than 500,000 fully autonomous rides per week. Sundar Pichai’s framing: “2026 is off to a terrific start. Our AI investments and full stack approach are lighting up every part of the business.”
Valuation is the rare part. Alphabet trades at a P/E of 15 with 36% ROE and a 33% net margin. The stock at $350.12 is down 13% since the 13F filing despite being up 110% over one year. Analyst consensus is 89% bullish with a $432.83 target, and the base-case model points to $437.05 over twelve months, implying 25% upside.
Risk: CapEx is the swing factor. Q1 CapEx hit $35.67 billion (+107%), free cash flow fell 47% to $10.1 billion, and full-year CapEx guidance sits at $175 billion to $185 billion. The ROI clock on those AI build-outs is now ticking in plain view.
What to watch Three different theses, one common thread: Abel is buying earnings power where current sentiment underprices it. The next 13F, due August, will show whether these were starter positions or down payments.
