Berkshire Hathaway’s cash fortress tops $300 billion as Buffett sells more stock, freezes buybacks

Berkshire Hathaway’s cash fortress tops 0 billion as Buffett sells more stock, freezes buybacks


Warren Buffett walks the floor ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

David A. Grogen | CNBC

Berkshire Hathaway‘s monstrous cash pile topped $300 billion in the third quarter as Warren Buffett continued his stock-selling spree and held back from repurchasing shares.

The Omaha-based conglomerate saw its cash fortress swell to a record $325.2 billion by the end of September, up from $276.9 billion in the second quarter, according to its earnings report released Saturday morning.

The mountain of cash kept growing as the Oracle of Omaha sold significant portions of his biggest equity holdings, namely Apple and Bank of America. Berkshire dumped about a quarter of its gigantic Apple stake in the third quarter, making the fourth consecutive quarter that it has downsized this bet. Meanwhile, since mid-July, Berkshire has reaped more than $10 billion from offloading its longtime Bank of America investment.

Overall, the 94-year-old investor continued to be in a selling mood as Berkshire shed $36.1 billion worth of stock in the third quarter.

No buybacks

Berkshire didn’t repurchase any company shares during the period amid the selling spree. Repurchase activity had already slowed down earlier in the year as Berkshire shares outperformed the broader market to hit record highs.

The conglomerate had bought back just $345 million worth of its own stock in the second quarter, significantly lower than the $2 billion repurchased in each of the prior two quarters. The company states that it will buy back stock when Chairman Buffett “believes that the repurchase price is below Berkshire’s intrinsic value, conservatively determined.”

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

hide content

Berkshire Hathaway

Class A shares of Berkshire have gained 25% this year, outpacing the S&P 500’s 20.1% year-to-date return. The conglomerate crossed a $1 trillion market cap milestone in the third quarter when it hit an all-time high.

For the third quarter, Berkshire’s operating earnings, which encompass profits from the conglomerate’s fully-owned businesses, totaled $10.1 billion, down about 6% from a year prior due to weak insurance underwriting. The figure was a bit less than analysts estimated, according to the FactSet consensus.

Buffett’s conservative posture comes as the stock market has roared higher this year on expectations for a smooth landing for the economy as inflation comes down and the Federal Reserve keeps cutting interest rates. Interest rates have not quite complied lately, however, with the 10-year Treasury yield climbing back above 4% last month.

Notable investors such as Paul Tudor Jones have become worried about the ballooning fiscal deficit and that neither of the two presidential candidates squaring off next week in the election will cut spending to address it. Buffett has hinted this year he was selling some stock holdings on the notion that tax rates on capital gains would have to be raised at some point to plug the growing deficit.



Source

UK put on a war footing with defense overhaul — but is it too little, too late?
World

UK put on a war footing with defense overhaul — but is it too little, too late?

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer (C), Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey (2nd R) and managing director of BAE Systems’ naval ships business Simon Lister (R) visit the BAE Systems’Govan facility, in Glasgow, on June 2, 2025. Britain announced it will build 12 new attack submarines as it unveiled a major defense review to deal with […]

Read More
European autos stocks fall 2% as Trump’s 50% steel tariffs inflate EU trade tensions
World

European autos stocks fall 2% as Trump’s 50% steel tariffs inflate EU trade tensions

Mid-morning market moves The mood in equities remains downbeat in Europe, with the regional Stoxx 600 index 0.25% lower at 10:30 a.m. U.K. time as investors eye the potential for escalating U.S.-EU tariffs. Autos stocks on the index are down 1.75%, technology stocks are down 1.2% and household goods are down 1%. Oil and gas […]

Read More
As the TACO trade goes viral, another is gaining traction: ‘Anywhere But The USA’
World

As the TACO trade goes viral, another is gaining traction: ‘Anywhere But The USA’

“It’s become quite emotive,” one market watcher told CNBC. “Nobody wants to invest in an environment where the government might change its mind overnight.” Source

Read More