Berkshire Hits Record High After Buffett Succession Fears Fade — SkimNews
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- Berkshire Hathaway Class A and B shares closed at all-time highs of $820,500 and $546.97 on Thursday, October 2025, surpassing pre-announcement levels from May 2025.
- Warren Buffett announced at the 2025 shareholders meeting that he would step down as CEO at year-end, triggering an immediate 5% drop in Berkshire shares the following Monday.
- Greg Abel has maintained Berkshire’s strategic continuity, with analysts like UBS's Brian Meredith stating the company's culture and direction remain unchanged under his leadership.
- Berkshire Hathaway gained nearly 18% from its August 2025 lows, outperforming the S&P 500 and the NYSE Fang+ index, which fell 0.4% and 4.8% respectively in October.
- Berkshire Hathaway Energy is positioning itself to supply power to AI data centers, a 'significant opportunity' according to CEO Greg Abel, provided customer rates remain stable.
- Berkshire Hathaway holds a $34 billion stake in Alphabet, one of the leading AI companies, while being labeled 'the ultimate anti-AI play' by Barron's due to its cash-rich, diversified industrial portfolio.
Why it matters: Berkshire’s rally narrows its year-to-date gap with the S&P 500 to under four points, showing investors are rewarding its defensive profile as tech valuations wobble—proving Abel can leverage $359 billion in cash to gain market trust without Buffett at the helm.
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