Berkshire Hathaway|20B Breaks the Cash Habit

The cash release

Berkshire Hathaway has started using its cash again. In the second quarter, it bought nearly $20 billion more stocks than it sold, ending 14 straight quarters as a net seller.

That is more than a portfolio update. It is the first visible test of how Greg Abel will deploy capital after taking over as chief executive.

The initial answer is not that Berkshire has abandoned Buffett's discipline. The evidence says Abel is applying the same value test, but with a willingness to act.

Two selective bets

Berkshire added $10 billion to its Alphabet position. It also repurchased $4.5 billion of its own stock between April and June, then bought more than $3.3 billion more in July.

Those choices point to two judgments at once. Berkshire saw value outside the company while also treating its own shares as attractive enough to repurchase.

That makes the cash release conditional, not reckless. Berkshire's policy permits buybacks when Abel conservatively judges the shares below intrinsic value.

The business is mixed

The operating business was not uniformly strong. Second-quarter operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion, but GEICO's underwriting profit fell 45% as claims and marketing costs increased.

That mix matters because the cash move could be read as a vote on Berkshire's whole business. The evidence is narrower: BNSF and service businesses helped offset weakness at GEICO.

The better reading is therefore not that Berkshire is fixed. It is that Abel is deploying capital while the operating signals remain mixed.

What succession changes

The succession question also has a longer clock. Buffett plans to give his remaining Berkshire stake, valued around $140 billion, to his children's foundations by 2034 or sooner if he dies.

That does not prove a dividend or a governance shift. But it changes the ownership backdrop, because foundations may need cash for philanthropy while Buffett's direct influence eventually declines.

For now, the strongest supported judgment is a qualified one. Berkshire is no longer sitting entirely on cash, but the signal is disciplined deployment, not a completed reinvention under Abel. The fetched evidence supports a change in pace, while the durability of the change remains open.