Berkshire buys again after 14 quarters and sits on 365 billion dollars of cash

Berkshire Hathaway bought shares on a net basis worth just under 20 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2026. That ends a run of 14 consecutive quarters in which the conglomerate sold more than it bought.

The cash position stood at around 365.5 billion dollars on 30 June, eight percent below the level at the end of March.

The figures come from the filing with the American securities regulator published after the close on 14 August.

The short version

• Berkshire bought shares on a net basis worth just under 20 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2026 and ended 14 quarters of net selling.
• The cash position stood at around 365.5 billion dollars on 30 June, eight percent below the level at the end of March.
• The five largest positions account for 76.5 percent of the holdings and the ten largest for 88.74 percent.

Alphabet moves into third place

The largest single item was the increase in the holding in Alphabet by around 17 billion dollars. Berkshire now owns just under 106 million shares of the A and C classes with a market value of about 36.6 billion dollars.

That puts Alphabet around 1.5 billion dollars ahead of Coca Cola at 35.1 billion dollars and behind American Express at 51.9 billion dollars and Apple at 69.7 billion dollars.

During the quarter 48.1 million shares were added. Around 60 percent of that, or about ten billion dollars, Berkshire acquired directly from the company through a private placement. The remainder of around seven billion dollars went through the market.

Warren Buffett claimed the move for himself in July. He initiated it, he said in an interview.

The portfolio becomes more concentrated

The five largest positions now account for 76.5 percent of the holdings and the ten largest for 88.74 percent.

Nothing changed in the Apple position after it had been reduced in the last three quarters of 2025. At 22 percent it remains the largest single holding. Before the sales in 2024, Apple had made up more than 50 percent of the listed portfolio.

Positions were reduced at Bank of America, Kroger, Capital One, Nucor, Ally Financial and DaVita. At Capital One it was around 4.2 million shares, a fall of about 58 percent. At Kroger around eleven million shares were sold, which cut the holding by about 22 percent. The stake in Constellation Brands was closed entirely.

A return to Delta Air Lines

Built up or increased on the other hand were Delta Air Lines, Lennar, Macys and the New York Times.

At Delta the holding rose 44 percent, an outlay of around 1.6 billion dollars, to 57.3 million shares worth about 5.1 billion dollars. What stands out is the history. Berkshire had sold its airline holdings years earlier at a loss. The carrier had only returned to the portfolio in the first quarter of this year.

Newly added was the housebuilder D. R. Horton. In addition Berkshire took over the developer Taylor Morrison for 6.8 billion dollars and bought back its own shares for more than 4.5 billion dollars.

Coca Cola remains the classic

The holding in Coca Cola illustrates why such positions are held for decades. Berkshire bought shares from 1988 onwards for a total of around 1.3 billion dollars and holds 400 million of them, which is around 9.3 percent of the shares outstanding.

Annual dividend payments now come to about 848 million dollars. That corresponds to around 65 percent of the original purchase price per year. In 1988 that amount was about 30 million dollars.

Observers read the moves of the quarter as a sign that the new chief executive Greg Abel is steering the portfolio more towards technology and growth. Because the filing contains no foreign holdings, part of the portfolio stays invisible in it.

Frequently asked questions

How large is the cash position at Berkshire

On 30 June it stood at around 365.5 billion dollars, eight percent below the level at the end of March. In the second quarter the conglomerate bought shares on a net basis worth just under 20 billion dollars.

Which positions were reduced

Reduced were Bank of America, Kroger, Capital One, Nucor, Ally Financial and DaVita. At Capital One it was around 4.2 million shares, a fall of about 58 percent. At Kroger around eleven million shares were sold. The stake in Constellation Brands was closed entirely.

Why is Coca Cola the classic in the portfolio

Berkshire bought shares from 1988 onwards for a total of around 1.3 billion dollars and holds 400 million of them. Annual dividend payments now come to about 848 million dollars, which is around 65 percent of the original purchase price per year.

This analysis is for information only and is not investment advice.