Greg Abel’s second quarter as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO was defined by meaningful action, not just words. The company finally put a significant dent in its record cash pile, marking the first major decline since early 2022.
Berkshire reported $365.5 billion in cash as of June 30, down 8.0% from the record $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter, according to the company’s Saturday morning financial report. On Berkshire’s preferred metric — which excludes BNSF’s cash and adjusts for Treasury bills purchased but not yet paid for — cash declined 3.8% to $359.2 billion.
A return to buybacks
A big chunk of that spending went back into Berkshire’s own stock. The company repurchased $4.5 billion of its shares during the quarter. That came in below Barron’s rough estimate of $5 billion to $11 billion and well under UBS analyst Brian Meredith’s $8.5 billion forecast, but it was still a dramatic shift from the $235 million Berkshire spent on buybacks in the first quarter — which was itself the first repurchase activity since 2024.
Analysts see the move as a signal from the new CEO. CFRA Research’s Cathy Seifert told Bloomberg that “people are going to be encouraged by the buybacks. It’s also Greg’s way of taking the helm and asserting himself.”
Gabelli Funds portfolio manager Macrae Sykes echoed that sentiment to CNBC, saying, “Material repurchases provide confidence for shareholders that some of the best corporate capital allocators see current value.”
And the buying may have continued into July. Barron’s estimates Berkshire spent another $3.4 billion on buybacks in July, based on a comparison of outstanding shares as of July 29 versus June 30. Much of that presumably came before the stock’s rally near the end of the month.
From net seller to net buyer
Abel wasn’t just buying Berkshire shares. In another major shift, Berkshire purchased more equities than it sold during the quarter, for a net increase of $20 billion. That includes the $10 billion investment in Alphabet announced in June. It was the first time Berkshire has been a net buyer of stocks in 14 quarters.
Investors will get a clearer picture of exactly what Berkshire bought and sold when the company releases its Q2 portfolio snapshot in the coming week.
Operating strength, insurance weakness
Berkshire’s operating earnings rose 16% to $12.98 billion in the quarter, with strong contributions from Berkshire Hathaway Energy (up 27%) and BNSF railroad (up 6%). Manufacturing, service, and retail earnings increased 24% to almost $4.5 billion.
Insurance was the laggard. Underwriting earnings fell 13%, insurance investment income dropped 9%, and GEICO was a particular sore spot, with underwriting profits down 45%. Sykes remained upbeat, noting that “despite more difficult insurance industry back-drop, the company continues to build shareholder net worth in Greg Abel’s first year as CEO.”
The insurance headwinds are worth watching, but the bigger story this quarter is that Berkshire is finally deploying its mountain of cash. After years of sitting on the sidelines, the new CEO is showing he’s willing to act.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/09/abel-puts-a-big-chunk-of-berkshires-cash-to-work.html
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