By Jonathan Stempel
Aug 8 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway said it began reducing its enormous stockpile of cash in the second quarter, investing billions of dollars in stocks such as Alphabet and repurchasing billions of its own, as it reported higher-than-expected profit.
The conglomerate said on Saturday it repurchased $4.5 billion of its own stock between April and June and over $3.3 billion more in July, accelerating repurchases it began in March following a nearly two-year hiatus.
Berkshire also bought nearly $20 billion more stocks than it sold, ending 14 straight quarters as a net seller of shares.
Purchases included a $10 billion addition to an already-large investment in Alphabet, the parent of Google and YouTube, which is now one of its largest stock holdings.
Quarterly operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion, topping analyst forecasts, as improvement at the BNSF railroad and service businesses including the NetJets luxury plane unit and TTI electronic components distributor helped offset weakness at the Geico auto insurer.
Net income more than doubled to $25.67 billion, including unrealized gains and losses on stocks Berkshire still owns. Berkshire urges investors to ignore the resulting volatility.
Revenue, which had been stagnating, rose 10% to $101.81 billion.
Berkshire said “considerable uncertainty” remains about macroeconomic and geopolitical events, including tariffs and wars, as demand at consumer businesses such as Fruit of the Loom underwear and Forest River RVs reflects changes in consumer confidence.
The quarter was the second since Greg Abel became Berkshire’s chief executive, succeeding Warren Buffett, who remains chairman.
“It’s a pretty healthy beat, and investors will be encouraged,” said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research with a “neutral” rating for Berkshire. “Slowly, gradually and subtly we’re seeing Greg assert himself as the new leader.”
MEASURING INTRINSIC VALUE
Investors and analysts have been eager to see how Abel’s approach to managing Berkshire’s capital differs from that of Buffett, who had difficulty deploying cash toward the end of his 60 years at the helm of the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate.
Berkshire ended June with $364.7 billion of cash, down from a record $380.2 billion three months earlier.
Berkshire’s policy allows buybacks when the stock price is below intrinsic value, as “conservatively determined” by Abel following consultation with Buffett.
Last month, Buffett, who turns 96 on August 30, told CNBC he remains involved in Berkshire’s decision-making, and neither he nor Abel were doing anything that the other didn’t approve of.
The pace of stock repurchases is comparable to Buffett’s peak pace early this decade.
Berkshire’s biggest year for buybacks was 2021, when it repurchased $27 billion of stock.
Material repurchases of stock “provide confidence for shareholders that some of the best corporate capital allocators see current value,” said Macrae Sykes, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds.
The reported cash stake includes the $6.8 billion that Berkshire spent in late July to buy home builder Taylor Morrison.
Berkshire’s $12.98 billion of operating profit equaled about $9,068 per Class A share, and rose from $11.16 billion a year earlier.
The $25.67 billion of net income was about $17,928 per Class A share, and rose from $12.37 billion.
Berkshire’s Class A shares have lagged the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 40 percentage points since Buffett announced in May 2025 that Abel would replace him as chief executive at year end. In 2026, the shares have risen 3%, while the S&P 500 is up 13%.
‘ABSOLUTELY ABYSMAL’ RESULTS AT GEICO, ANALYST SAYS
Geico saw pre-tax underwriting profit fall 45%, as accident claims rose while marketing expenses increased.
The car insurer has spent more on advertising to regain customers it lost during a multi-year effort to improve underwriting quality and reduce overheads.
Overall profit from insurance and reinsurance businesses fell 11%.
Seifert said Geico’s results were “absolutely abysmal” and raised “red flags,” at a time rivals, which include Allstate and Progressive, are performing better.
“The question is, was Geico late to the party to raise rates, and is it getting whipsawed by persistently higher claims frequencies,” Seifert said. “It is spending a boatload on advertising, but at some point it may have to pull the plug because it hurts the bottom line.”
Profit at BNSF rose 6% to $1.56 billion, as the railroad shipped more consumer, agricultural and energy products and charged more for fuel.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy said profit rose 27% to $891 million, benefiting from higher utility margins and tax credits.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Susan Fenton)
By Jonathan Stempel | Reuters | © Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026.
