Alphabet stake drives Berkshire's first net buying in 15 quarters
2026-08-08
Net stock buying and Alphabet stake
U.S. investment company Berkshire Hathaway reported net stock buying for the first time in 15 quarters in its April-June earnings materials released on the 8th, as its huge cash pile began to move under Chief Executive Greg Abel.
According to the cash flow statement, the net purchase amount was $19.7 billion, or about 3.1 trillion yen. Acquisitions totaled $23.4 billion and sales came to $3.6 billion, the first time purchases have exceeded sales since July-September 2022. The previous quarter saw net buying of $3.6 billion.
An additional investment in Google parent Alphabet was the main factor. In June 2026, Alphabet announced a large capital increase plan to fund investment in artificial intelligence (AI) development, and Berkshire subscribed to $10 billion through a third-party allocation. Alphabet newly entered Berkshire's five largest holdings at the end of June, while oil major Chevron dropped out.
Share buybacks and profit trends
Share buybacks in April-June rose sharply to $4.5 billion from $200 million in January-March. Berkshire buys back shares when it judges the stock price to be below intrinsic value, indicating that Abel and Chairman Warren Buffett may view the shares as undervalued.
Berkshire's broader cash holdings, including cash and short-term U.S. government securities, stood at $365.5 billion at the end of June, down 8% from the record high at the end of March. Net profit for April-June more than doubled from a year earlier to $25.6 billion. Because U.S. accounting standards reflect unrealized gains and losses on its listed equity holdings, earnings are sensitive to stock-price movements. The stock portfolio stood at $323.7 billion at the end of June.
Operating profit, excluding valuation gains and other items, rose 16% to $12.9 billion. In the reinsurance business, it began a new reinsurance contract in April with an insurer under Tokio Marine Holdings and booked $483 million in premium income. Berkshire decided in March on a capital and business alliance with Tokio Marine HD, and it has already started contributing to earnings.
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