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Berkshire Hathaway’s Rare Spending Spree Turns Heads on Wall Street
A strong earnings report reveals that new CEO Greg Abel dipped into Warren Buffett’s $380 billion cash reserve to buy back stock, boost Berkshire’s stake in Alphabet, and pursue one of its biggest acquisitions in years. One weak spot: GEICO
Aug 9, 2026
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Berkshire Hathaway reported stronger-than-expectedsecond-quarter results on Saturday, as CEO Greg Abel ramped up share buybacks, invested heavily in other stocks, and began putting a dent in the $380 billion cash hoard built during Warren Buffett’s final years running the conglomerate
Operating profit rose 16.3 percent to $12.98 billion for the quarter, topping analyst forecasts, while net income more than doubled to $25.67 billion. Berkshire also repurchased $4.5 billion of its own stock during the quarter, bought nearly $20 billion more stock than it sold, and boosted its already sizable investment in Google parent Alphabet by $10 billion in June through a private placement
Despite the spending spree, Berkshire said it ended June with nearly $365 billion in cash and Treasury bills. In its earnings report, the company cautioned that “considerable uncertainty” lies ahead due to macroeconomic and geopolitical developments, including rising tariffs and ongoing wars
The earnings report was the second issued under Abel, who succeeded Buffett as chief executive in January. Buffett, 95, who acquired control of the company in 1965, remains as chairman
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“It’s a pretty healthy beat, and investors will be encouraged,” Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research, told Reuters. “Slowly, gradually and subtly we’re seeing Greg assert himself as the new leader.”
The Omaha-based conglomerate said stronger results at Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) and service businesses, including NetJets and electronic-components distributor TTI, helped offset a weaker performance at GEICO, where higher claims costs weighed on underwriting profits
Berkshire’s share repurchases have accelerated sharply this year. The company bought back $4.5 billion in stock between April and June, up from $235 million in the first quarter. Reuters reported that Berkshire repurchased more than $3.3 billion of additional shares in July
