After Warren Buffett's Exit, Greg Abel Starts Deploying Berkshire Hathaway's $365 Billion Cash Pile

OMAHA, Neb. — Berkshire Hathaway's enormous cash reserve is beginning to shrink under new chief executive Greg Abel, signaling a potentially significant shift in investment strategy at the conglomerate long led by Warren Buffett.

Berkshire reported Saturday that it held $365.5 billion in cash and Treasury bills at the end of June, down from $397.4 billion at the end of March. Excluding Treasury payables, the company's cash and short-term government securities fell from roughly $380 billion to $365 billion during the quarter — the clearest sign yet that Abel, who formally succeeded Buffett as CEO at the start of this year, is beginning to put the company's vast financial reserves to work.

A renewed pace of buybacks and stock purchases

During the April-to-June quarter, Berkshire repurchased approximately $4.5 billion of its own shares, and continued that pace into July with more than $3.3 billion in additional buybacks. The company had resumed share repurchases in March following an almost two-year pause.

Berkshire also made a notable shift in its broader investment activity, purchasing nearly $20 billion more in stocks than it sold during the quarter. According to Yahoo Finance's reporting on the results, Berkshire bought $23.5 billion in stocks while selling only $3.7 billion — ending a streak of 14 consecutive quarters in which the company had been a net seller of equities. The last time Berkshire had a larger net outlay on stocks was in the first quarter of 2022.

Among the notable purchases was an additional $10 billion investment in Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, which has made Alphabet one of Berkshire's largest equity holdings, alongside long-standing positions in Apple, Coca-Cola, American Express and Bank of America.

Strong operating results beat expectations

Berkshire's underlying business performance was also stronger than expected. Quarterly operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion, exceeding analysts' forecasts. Improved results at BNSF, the company's railroad operation, along with service businesses such as NetJets and TTI, helped offset weaker performance at Geico, Berkshire's auto insurance unit.

Net income surged to $25.6 billion, more than double the $12.3 billion reported during the same period a year earlier. Revenue also improved, rising 10% to $101.81 billion following a period of stagnation.

Abel signals a philosophy of disciplined but active investing

Abel, who formally assumed the CEO role in January, laid out his approach to capital allocation in his first letter to shareholders in February. According to Yahoo Finance, Abel wrote that Berkshire pursues opportunities where the reward matches the risk, pledging continuity with Buffett's signature approach of disciplined capital allocation while pushing back on the notion that the company's substantial cash position signaled hesitancy.

"Many times in Berkshire's history, some observers have suggested that our substantial cash position signals a retreat from investing. It does not," Abel wrote in that letter, according to CNBC's coverage. "We continue to evaluate many opportunities and will remain patient and disciplined in pursuing the right ones for the benefit of our owners."

Abel also described Berkshire's balance sheet in strategic terms, framing the company's liquidity as a source of flexibility rather than caution. According to Barchart's reporting on the letter, Abel wrote, "Our balance sheet is a strategic asset to be deployed at the right time. It allows us to act decisively, invest when others are tentative or fearful, and stand firm when financial storms roll through."

Caution alongside the deployment

Despite the more active investment posture, Berkshire cautioned shareholders that substantial uncertainty remains surrounding the global economic and geopolitical environment. The company pointed to factors including tariffs and ongoing wars, while also flagging weaker demand across several consumer-facing businesses.

Berkshire said changing consumer confidence was affecting operations including its network of 103 car and truck dealerships, its Fruit of the Loom apparel business, and its Forest River recreational vehicle operations — a reminder that even as Berkshire deploys more capital into equities, some of its underlying operating businesses continue to face softer demand conditions.

A notable acquisition completed during the quarter

Beyond its stock purchases, Berkshire also completed its acquisition of Taylor Morrison Home Corporation on July 24, though the company did not disclose the transaction's valuation in its earnings report.

The second quarterly report under new leadership

Saturday's results mark the second quarterly report since Abel took over as CEO, succeeding Buffett, who continues to serve as Berkshire's chairman. The company's shrinking cash hoard represents a notable change for a business that had accumulated enormous reserves during the final years of Buffett's leadership, a period in which Buffett developed a reputation for patiently holding cash until sufficiently attractive investment opportunities emerged.

What it signals going forward

Berkshire's recent buying activity suggests that under Abel, the conglomerate may be increasingly willing to put its vast resources to work when management identifies compelling opportunities — a meaningful, if measured, departure from the extended cash accumulation that characterized much of Buffett's final years at the helm. Whether this pace of deployment continues in coming quarters will likely serve as an early test of how closely Abel's investment philosophy tracks with, or diverges from, that of his predecessor.

A sourcing note: all direct quotes above from Greg Abel are confirmed and on the record via his February shareholder letter, as reported by CNBC, Yahoo Finance and Barchart's coverage of that letter. Financial figures for the quarter are drawn directly from Berkshire's own earnings disclosure, as reported by Mint.