Berkshire Hathaway reduced its cash reserves to $365.5 billion
In the second quarter, under the leadership of new CEO Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway reduced its cash reserves to $365.5 billion. This is 8% less than the record $397.4 billion as of March 31, CNBC reports, citing the company’s quarterly report for the three months ended June 30.
Excluding funds from the BNSF railroad and adjusted for Treasury bills that were purchased but not yet paid for, Berkshire’s reserves stood at $359.2 billion—a 3.8% decrease. The company used part of these funds to repurchase $4.5 billion of its own shares. In the first quarter, it spent $235 million on share buybacks—Berkshire’s first share repurchase since 2024.
The company also purchased more shares of other issuers than it sold: the net increase in equity investments totaled $20 billion. CNBC notes that this figure may include the $10 billion investment in Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced in June. Prior to this, Berkshire Hathaway had been a net seller of shares for 14 consecutive quarters.
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Berkshire Hathaway’s operating profit rose 16% in the second quarter to $12.98 billion. Profit at Berkshire Hathaway Energy increased by 27%, and at BNSF Railway by 6%. Profit from the manufacturing, services, and retail divisions rose by 24%—to nearly $4.5 billion. At the same time, the insurance segment posted weaker results: underwriting profit fell by 13%, investment income from insurance by 9%, and GEICO’s underwriting profit plummeted by 45%.
Separately, Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake in dialysis services provider DaVita by approximately 183,000 shares, receiving $36.5 million. Following the transaction, the company held 28.7 million shares of DaVita worth nearly $5.3 billion, representing a 45% stake.
