Berkshire Hathaway gains ground, but still trails the S&P 500 as '26 enters second half
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- Berkshire Hathaway B shares are down 1.8% YTD in 2026, trailing the S&P 500's 10.7% gain by 12.4 percentage points (13.1 points including dividends).
- A strong June wiped out about a third of Berkshire's prior 17.5-point deficit as of June 1, but its Q2 gain of just over 3% still paled against the benchmark's tech-driven 16% advance.
- Berkshire entered Q2 with a slim 1.8-point lead over the S&P 500 at end of March and erased it entirely during April–June; last year the company underperformed the index by 5.5 points excluding dividends.
- CEO Greg Abel and portfolio manager Ted Weschler appeared on the Forbes attendee list at the invitation-only Allen & Co. Sun Valley conference in Idaho, joining Bezos, Zuckerberg, and Sam Altman — the first notable Berkshire presence at the gathering without Warren Buffett, who hadn't attended in recent years.
- Berkshire held $397.4 billion in cash as of March 31, 2026 (up 6.5% from year-end), and repurchased $234 million of its own shares in Q1.
- Buried in the holdings table: Berkshire agreed to buy $10 billion in Alphabet shares directly from the company on June 1, 2026, though it has not formally disclosed whether the transaction has completed.
Why it matters: Berkshire's persistent double-digit lag behind the tech-led S&P 500 — combined with its record $397.4 billion cash hoard — shows that its defensive posture has become a drag during an AI-driven rally, even as the firm quietly opens its wallet with a $10 billion direct Alphabet purchase announced June 1.
