Berkshire Turns Net Buyer as Abel Deploys More Capital

Berkshire Hathaway became a net buyer of publicly traded stocks in the second quarter of 2026, ending a 14-quarter stretch in which sales exceeded purchases and giving investors the clearest evidence yet that the conglomerate is deploying more of its record liquidity under new CEO Greg Abel.

The company bought about $23.5 billion of equities during the quarter and sold roughly $3.7 billion, for net purchases near $19.8 billion. The shift helped reduce a cash-and-short-term-Treasury position that stood near a record $397.4 billion at the end of March to roughly $365 billion at the end of June.

The largest disclosed equity investment was Alphabet. On June 1, Alphabet entered into a securities purchase agreement with a Berkshire affiliate for a $10 billion private placement. SEC documents show Berkshire receiving more than 14.2 million Class A shares and more than 14.3 million Class C shares. Alphabet said the broader capital raise would support expanded AI infrastructure and computing capacity.

Berkshire also accelerated repurchases of its own shares. The company resumed buybacks on March 4 after nearly two years without them. Second-quarter repurchases totaled about $4.5 billion. Berkshire has historically treated repurchases as discretionary, tied to management's estimate of value rather than to a fixed schedule.

Another major capital commitment came through the acquisition of Taylor Morrison. Berkshire agreed to pay $72.50 a share for the homebuilder, implying about $6.8 billion of equity value and roughly $8.5 billion of enterprise value. The deal closed July 24, after the second quarter ended, so the acquisition's closing payment should not be attributed to the June-quarter reduction in cash. Taylor Morrison is expected to be integrated with Berkshire's existing site-built homebuilding operations.

Berkshire's earnings rose sharply at the same time. Net income was about $25.67 billion, more than twice the year-earlier level, helped by investment gains. Operating earnings increased roughly 16% to $12.98 billion, reflecting stronger results across several controlled businesses, including manufacturing and retail operations.

The distinction between net income and operating earnings is important in Berkshire's case. Accounting rules require gains and losses on the company's large equity portfolio to affect reported profit, making quarter-to-quarter net income unusually volatile. The operating result offers a steadier view of the earnings power that replenishes Berkshire's capital base.

Abel became CEO at the beginning of 2026 after Warren Buffett left the chief executive role. Buffett remains Berkshire's chairman. Because the handoff follows decades in which Buffett personally embodied the company's investment discipline, the market is likely to interpret every major allocation decision as a test of succession.

There are competing readings of the quarter. One is that the lower cash balance, net equity buying, buybacks and acquisitions show a more active capital strategy. Another is that Berkshire simply encountered several opportunities at the same time and remains fundamentally committed to the same discipline. The company has not formally announced a strategic break with its past.

Its liquidity policy reinforces that caution. Berkshire has stated that its aggregate cash, cash equivalents and short-term U.S. Treasury bills should not fall below $30 billion. With roughly $365 billion still on hand by common measures, the company remains far above that minimum and retains substantial capacity for emergencies or future investments.

Michael Burry has publicly taken the skeptical side. MarketWatch reported that he wrote on Substack that he no longer views Berkshire as an attractive investment going forward and questioned the early moves under new leadership. His comments are an opinion about future returns rather than a factual assessment that can be confirmed today.

For shareholders, the second quarter established one clear fact: Berkshire's capital flow has changed. Fourteen consecutive quarters of net stock selling ended, and a meaningful portion of the company's liquidity moved into Alphabet, other equities and Berkshire's own shares. Whether that becomes a defining feature of the Abel era will depend on the durability and returns of those decisions.

The numbers also need to be kept in their proper accounting lanes. Taylor Morrison's $6.8 billion equity value is not the same as its roughly $8.5 billion enterprise value, and the acquisition closed after June 30. The $4.5 billion buyback is a separate use of capital, while the roughly $19.8 billion net equity purchases describe purchases minus sales in the public portfolio. Combining them into one simple second-quarter spending total would distort the timing and mechanics.

Berkshire's remaining liquidity also changes the significance of the decline. A drop of more than $30 billion would be transformative for most companies. For Berkshire, it still leaves a reserve more than ten times the stated $30 billion floor. That means management retains the ability to withstand market stress or finance another large transaction without abandoning its conservative balance-sheet posture.

The succession test will therefore be measured over a longer horizon than quarterly earnings. Abel must show not only that Berkshire can find places to put money but that it can preserve the willingness to hold cash when prospective returns are inadequate. In that sense, the decision not to buy in a future quarter could be just as informative as the activity seen in the second.

Investors will get a clearer answer by tracking the same indicators over time: equity purchases versus sales, repurchase activity, new operating-company acquisitions, operating earnings and the size of the Treasury-and-cash reserve. If those measures continue to point toward deployment, the second quarter will look like a turning point. If they reverse, it will look like a selective response to a rare cluster of opportunities.