Berkshire ekes out some new highs, but October rally stalls — SkimNews
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- Berkshire Hathaway set record Monday closes of $821,931 for Class A and $548.56 for Class B, with Class B also touching a $550.47 intraday record Friday; Class A’s Friday open near $822,929 failed to top its prior $824,765 record, leaving A up 0.3% for the week at $815,600 and B below 0.1%.
- Berkshire Hathaway ended October up 8.9%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.3%, as it appeared to benefit from a back-to-basics rotation; BRK.B cut its year-to-date deficit against the S&P from 3.5 to 2.8 percentage points and remained more than two points ahead over 12 months.
- Warren Buffett announced last year that he would step down as CEO; Berkshire has now fully erased the 15% pullback that followed.
- Alphabet shed around $500 billion in market value Thursday after a nearly 13% plunge, its worst session since going public in 2004; Q3 results showed negative free cash flow of $9.1 billion versus $2.7 billion expected, while search revenue missed estimates for a second straight quarter, which CNBC called the "first real sign AI is taking a bite" into its core business.
- Berkshire Hathaway’s Alphabet stake lost about one-quarter of its value, falling from a $40 billion early-August high to $29.6 billion Friday and becoming the fourth-largest equity holding based on Berkshire’s June 30 share count; Barron’s estimated Berkshire likely paid more than $300 and perhaps close to $320 per share, putting the position in the red at least so far.
- Coca-Cola moved decisively into third place among Berkshire’s equity holdings as the position rose almost 16%, from a $32.5 billion low in late July to $37.6 billion Friday.
- Berkshire Hathaway sold $69 million of DaVita shares Tuesday, leaving 28.3 million shares worth $5.3 billion; the reduction keeps its stake at 45% or lower under a 2024 agreement as DaVita reduces outstanding shares through buybacks, and does not signal a changed view.
Why it matters: Berkshire shareholders gained 8.9% in October amid a rotation away from AI-heavy technology, but the portfolio did not benefit uniformly: its Alphabet stake fell from $40 billion to $29.6 billion while the Coca-Cola position rose nearly 16%. Berkshire’s outperformance was therefore partly a back-to-basics rotation story, with substantial exposure still tied to AI spending concerns.
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