Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel greets shareholders during the company's annual shareholders' meeting, the conglomerate's first since Warren Buffett stepped down after 60 years as chief executive, in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 1.Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Berkshire Hathaway BRK-T shares rose on Monday to their highest level since Warren Buffett announced his departure as chief executive in May 2025, after his successor Greg Abel began spending the conglomerate’s huge cash pile and financial results topped analysts’ expectations.
Cash fell to $364.7-billion on June 30 from a record $380.2-billion three months earlier, Berkshire said in its quarterly report on Saturday.
Berkshire repurchased US$4.5-billion of its own stock and bought US$23.5-billion of other stocks during the second quarter, including a $10-billion investment in Google and YouTube parent Alphabet GOOG-T.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate spent at least US$10.1-billion more cash in July on stock buybacks and the acquisition of home builder Taylor Morrison.
Greg Abel aims to reassure Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in a post-Buffett world
Second-quarter operating profit rose 16 per cent to US$12.98-billion, as gains from railroad, service and some insurance businesses offset rising accident claims and advertising spending at the Geico car insurer. Net income more than doubled to $25.67 billion, including paper gains on investments such as Alphabet and Apple. Revenue grew 10 per cent, following more than two years of largely stagnant growth.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and UBS raised their share price forecasts for Berkshire, with KBW analyst Meyer Shields calling the quarter “very solid” and UBS analyst Brian Meredith saying the “meaningful” cash deployment reflected Berkshire’s disciplined capital allocation.
Shields still rates Berkshire “underperform” because of macroeconomic uncertainty and pricing pressures in property and casualty insurance. Meredith rates Berkshire “buy.”
In morning trading, Berkshire Class A shares rose as much as 3.3 per cent to US$806,102.81. Class B shares, which trade for about 1/1500th as much, rose as much as 3.1 per cent to US$537.74. The shares last traded higher on May 2, 2025, the day before Buffett said he was stepping down after 60 years as chief executive.