Berkshire Hathaway Ramps Up Buybacks as Operating Profit Falls Under Greg Abel

In brief

• Berkshire Hathaway bought back $9.6 billion of its stock in the third quarter, the highest level in years.
• Operating and overall profits declined in the quarter.
• The company was a net seller of stocks under new CEO Greg Abel, after being a large net buyer in the second quarter.
• Cash holdings fell to $357 billion but remain more than double their level at the end of 2023.

Record buyback pace under new leadership

Berkshire Hathaway repurchased $9.6 billion of its own shares in the third quarter, according to the company's results released on Saturday. The figure is the largest quarterly buyback in several years and marks a sharp acceleration under chief executive Greg Abel, who took over from Warren Buffett at the end of 2025 (Warren Buffett isn't running Berkshire anymore. You wouldn't know it. – Business Insider) (Berkshire Hathaway more than doubles buybacks in third quarter as earnings decline – CNBC).

Profits fall

The conglomerate reported lower operating earnings and a decline in overall profit for the quarter (Berkshire Hathaway steps up buybacks as operating profit falls – Investing.com). Investors had been watching whether the company's businesses could offset weaker results elsewhere in the portfolio, and the figures show that pressure has continued.

Net selling of stocks

Berkshire's equity portfolio moved in the opposite direction from its buybacks. The company bought $2.4 billion of stocks and sold $2.8 billion, making it a net seller for the quarter. In the second quarter it had been a net buyer of about $20 billion (Berkshire Hathaway ploughs $9.6bn into share buybacks – Financial Times).

Cash pile

The cash balance fell by roughly $8 billion to $357 billion after accounting for $20.5 billion in Treasury payables. Even after the decline, the pile has more than doubled since the end of 2023, reflecting the difficulty of finding attractively priced investments during a strong market rally.

Buybacks as a policy shift

Accelerating repurchases is one of the main changes Abel has made, done in consultation with Buffett. Buybacks are used when the company judges its own shares to be undervalued relative to what it can earn, and the timing suggests management sees limited opportunities to deploy cash in acquisitions or new stock purchases.

Share performance

Berkshire's shares outperformed the S&P 500 over the period, according to the Financial Times.

Key figures

• Share buybacks, Q3: $9.6 billion
• Net stock purchases, Q2: about $20 billion
• Stocks bought, Q3: $2.4 billion
• Stocks sold, Q3: $2.8 billion
• Cash and equivalents, Q3: $357 billion