Berkshire Hathaway's cash fortress tops $300 billion as Buffett sells more stock, freezes buybacks

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Warren Buffett walks the level up of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting successful Omaha, Nebraska, connected May 3, 2024.

David A. Grogen | CNBC

Berkshire Hathaway's monstrous currency heap topped $300 cardinal successful the 3rd 4th arsenic Warren Buffett continued his stock-selling spree and held backmost from repurchasing shares.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate saw its currency fortress swell to a grounds $325.2 cardinal by the extremity of September, up from $276.9 cardinal successful the 2nd quarter, according to its net study released Saturday morning.

The upland of currency kept increasing arsenic the Oracle of Omaha sold important portions of his biggest equity holdings, namely Apple and Bank of America. Berkshire dumped astir a quarter of its gigantic Apple involvement successful the 3rd quarter, making the 4th consecutive 4th that it has downsized this bet. Meanwhile, since mid-July, Berkshire has reaped much than $10 cardinal from offloading its longtime Bank of America investment.

Overall, the 94-year-old capitalist continued to beryllium successful a selling temper arsenic Berkshire shed $36.1 cardinal worthy of banal successful the 3rd quarter.

No buybacks

Berkshire didn't repurchase immoderate institution shares during the play amid the selling spree. Repurchase enactment had already slowed down earlier successful the twelvemonth arsenic Berkshire shares outperformed the broader marketplace to deed grounds highs.

The conglomerate had bought back just $345 cardinal worthy of its ain banal successful the 2nd quarter, importantly little than the $2 billion repurchased successful each of the anterior 2 quarters. The institution states that it volition bargain backmost banal erstwhile Chairman Buffett "believes that the repurchase terms is beneath Berkshire's intrinsic value, conservatively determined."

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Berkshire Hathaway

Class A shares of Berkshire person gained 25% this year, outpacing the S&P 500's 20.1% year-to-date return. The conglomerate crossed a $1 trillion marketplace headdress milestone successful the 3rd 4th erstwhile it deed an all-time high.

For the 3rd quarter, Berkshire's operating earnings, which encompass profits from the conglomerate's fully-owned businesses, totaled $10.1 billion, down astir 6% from a twelvemonth anterior owed to anemic security underwriting. The fig was a spot little than analysts estimated, according to the FactSet consensus.

Buffett's blimpish posture comes arsenic the banal marketplace has roared higher this twelvemonth connected expectations for a creaseless landing for the system arsenic ostentation comes down and the Federal Reserve keeps cutting involvement rates. Interest rates person not rather complied lately, however, with the 10-year Treasury output climbing backmost supra 4% past month.

Notable investors specified arsenic Paul Tudor Jones person go disquieted astir the ballooning fiscal shortage and that neither of the 2 statesmanlike candidates squaring disconnected adjacent week successful the predetermination volition chopped spending to code it. Buffett has hinted this twelvemonth helium was selling immoderate banal holdings connected the conception that taxation rates connected superior gains would person to beryllium raised astatine immoderate constituent to plug the increasing deficit.

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