Berkshire earnings rose last quarter and CEO Greg Abel is starting to deploy Buffett's massive cash hoard
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- Berkshire Hathaway posted Q2 operating earnings of $12.98 billion, up 16% year-over-year, driven by a 24% jump in manufacturing/service/retailing to $4.47 billion and a 27% surge in Berkshire Hathaway Energy profit to $891 million.
- Greg Abel accelerated share buybacks to approximately $4.5 billion in Q2 — a sharp jump from just $235 million in Q1 — as he put Buffett's accumulated cash to work in his second fiscal period at the helm.
- Berkshire's cash pile fell to $365.5 billion at quarter-end from a record $397.4 billion, declining as the company also closed its Taylor Morrison acquisition and made nearly $20 billion in net equity purchases.
- Berkshire ended a 14-quarter streak as a net seller of stocks, swinging to net equity buying in Q2.
- Insurance was the weak segment, with underwriting earnings falling 13% to $1.73 billion and insurance investment income declining 9% to $3.06 billion.
- Alphabet entered Berkshire's top five equity holdings by market value as of June — alongside American Express, Apple, Bank of America, and Coca-Cola — after Berkshire disclosed a $10 billion investment in the Google parent earlier this year.
- Berkshire shares are up just 3% year-to-date versus the S&P 500's 13% gain, though the stock has risen 9% over the past three months.
Why it matters: Shareholders had pressed Abel to move beyond Treasuries, and his nearly $20 billion net equity buying spree — ending 14 consecutive quarters of net selling — answers that demand directly, with the $4.5 billion Q2 buyback acceleration signaling a decisive shift in capital posture despite insurance underwriting's 13% decline.
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