Berkshire Hathaway sells shares and accumulates record cash. And profits soar

Berkshire Hathaway ushers in the era of Greg Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett as CEO in January, with further growth. Behind which, however, there is a secret and a clue for savers: a large amount of cash in the portfolio.

Indeed, the group closed the first quarter with an operating profit of $11.35 billion, up 18% from $9.64 billion in the same period of 2025. But the figure that stands out is another: the cash held by Berkshire at the end of March reached a record $397.4 billion. This is because the group sold shares and accumulated cash accordingly. A signal that, in this moment of great uncertainty in which paradoxically the Wall Street stock exchange is running at all-time highs, must give us pause for thought.

The result, explains a note from the US group, is supported by earnings in the insurance business and other major operating divisions. Net income, which includes capital gains and losses on equity investments, more than doubled to EUR 10.1 billion from EUR 4.6 billion a year earlier. But it is the capital gains from the stock market that tell the real story: Berkshire Hathaway sold $24 billion worth of stock in the quarter and bought $15.9 billion worth. This means that the first quarter of 2026 was the fourteenth in a row in which the group founded by Warren Buffett sold shares.

The company finally said it repurchased $234m of its own shares in the quarter, the first buybacks since May 2024. It made no buybacks in the first two weeks of April. Finally, cash held by Berkshire at the end of March reached a record $397.4 billion.