Berkshire Hathaway reports $13 billion in second-quarter operating profit as Greg Abel deploys cash
Berkshire Hathaway reported $12.983 billion in second-quarter operating earnings on Aug. 8, 2026, as the company began deploying part of its enormous cash reserve under new Chief Executive Greg Abel.
The result was up from $11.16 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. Operating earnings reached $9,038.30 per Class A share, compared with $7,759.58 per Class A share in the year-earlier period.
The disclosures offer the first detailed view of capital-allocation decisions under Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett as Berkshire’s chief executive. They also show the company moving away from holding all of its cash in short-term investments.
Cash falls as Berkshire buys stocks
Berkshire’s cash holdings declined to $365.5 billion at the end of June, down from nearly $400 billion at the end of March. During the quarter, the company invested about $10 billion in Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
Berkshire also repurchased about $4.5 billion of its own shares. The combination of the Alphabet investment and buybacks marks an early indication of how Abel is using Berkshire’s financial resources after taking over from Buffett.
The company’s public disclosures did not identify the purchase price, timing or number of Alphabet shares acquired. They also did not establish whether the investment represents a permanent portfolio decision or a controlling or strategic stake.
The reported cash figure is a consolidated cash-and-equivalents balance across Berkshire’s businesses. It is not, by itself, a statement that the entire amount is unrestricted or available for any single transaction.
Operating performance improves
Berkshire said operating revenue increased about 10% during the quarter. Operating earnings are a key measure for the company because they reflect results from its businesses while excluding certain investment gains and losses that can cause reported net income to fluctuate.
The second-quarter operating result covers Berkshire’s consolidated businesses, including major operations such as BNSF Railway and Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Berkshire is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, and its businesses and publicly traded shares are followed by investors across the United States.
The increase in operating earnings came as Abel began leading the company’s capital-allocation decisions. Buffett, who built Berkshire into a large collection of insurance, industrial, transportation, energy and consumer businesses, had remained closely associated with decisions about the company’s cash and investments.
Why the result matters
Berkshire’s cash balance had become a central focus for investors because of its size. The decline reported at the end of June, together with the Alphabet purchase and share repurchases, provides an early public measure of how the company may use that reserve under its new chief executive.
The figures do not by themselves indicate a broad change in Berkshire’s investment strategy. They show that the company used some of its cash during the quarter while continuing to generate substantial operating earnings from its businesses.
The earnings release and related disclosures provide the latest benchmark for Berkshire under Abel. The company’s next financial updates will show whether the Alphabet position, additional share repurchases or other uses of cash continue, but the second-quarter disclosures did not set out a specific timetable for further investments.
Operating earnings should not be confused with Berkshire’s GAAP net income, which can be affected by changes in the market value of the company’s investments. The figures reported here describe the company’s operating performance and its disclosed capital-allocation activity for the quarter.
Sources
- Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO Greg Abel spends a chunk of the company's massive cashpile, Associated Press
- Berkshire Hathaway earnings release exhibit, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Look for updates to this story
Discover more from Interactive News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
