Warren Buffett's cash fortress Berkshire closes gap with S&P 500 as AI worries depress Wall Street

Operating profits for Berkshire's wholly owned companies were up 34% to astir $13.5 cardinal successful the 3rd quarter, with a 200% summation for security underwriting income.

There were again nary banal buybacks, a motion Buffett does not deliberation Berkshire shares are importantly undervalued contempt their weakness since May.

With nary wealth spent connected buying backmost Berkshire shares and equity income outpacing purchases, the company's September 30 currency deed $381.7 billion, up 10.9% since the extremity of June.

If you subtract BNSF's currency and relationship for the timing of immoderate Treasury measure purchases, the full is $354.3 billion, up 4.3% from June.

Warren Buffett whitethorn beryllium delivering his last connection arsenic Berkshire's CEO adjacent Monday.

This week the institution confirmed successful a news release what it told the Wall Street Journal last week.

"On Monday, November 10th, Berkshire volition beryllium issuing a property merchandise which will incorporate a connection from Mr. Buffett regarding philanthropy, Berkshire and different matters that Berkshire shareholders and others whitethorn find to beryllium of interest."

The philanthropy portion volition astir apt beryllium connected to his annual Thanksgiving contributions to household foundations.

The "Berkshire and different matters" information could beryllium thing of a farewell connection arsenic helium prepares to step down arsenic CEO at the extremity of the year.

While helium volition stay president of the board, helium volition not beryllium connected signifier astatine adjacent May's gathering and caller CEO Greg Abel volition beryllium penning the yearly missive to shareholders.

Since helium appears to beryllium intentionally limiting his aboriginal opportunities to talk to shareholders and the remainder of the world, Buffett whitethorn beryllium acceptable to person his last accidental now.

We won't cognize for definite until adjacent Friday's merchandise of Berkshire's Q3 equity portfolio snapshot, but it looks similar determination were much income of Apple shares during the 3 months ending September 30.

CNBC.com's Yun Li notes Berkshire's 10-Q past Saturday reported a $1.2 cardinal diminution successful its outgo ground for user merchandise stocks, which would see Apple.

She besides points retired that Apple's 24% summation during the 4th would person provided an accidental for Buffett to fastener successful much profits.

Apple remains Berkshire's largest equity holding, presently valued astatine $75.2 billion, but it has chopped the presumption by 69% implicit the past 2 years.

With Apple reporting successful its 10-Q that it had $12.4 cardinal successful Q3 equity sales, Barron's suggests a batch of the remaining $4.4 cardinal whitethorn be Bank of America sales, different large presumption that Berkshire has been sharply reducing.

That involvement has been chopped by astir 40% since the opening of past year.

At $32.2 billion, it is Berkshire's 3rd largest equity holding.

All 5 of the stocks are astatine oregon adjacent all-time highs.

The combined worth of Berkshire's reported holdings is approaching $33 billion, up from $31 cardinal conscionable 1 period ago.

The fig could beryllium adjacent higher assuming immoderate of Berkshire's continued buying has not yet been publically revealed.

Berkshire Hathaway has a caller informing astir YouTube videos with "images oregon AI created images impersonating" Warren Buffett.

A news release Thursday said, "Generally, specified video images of Mr. Buffett whitethorn look to look similar him but the dependable of the impersonator speaking successful a precise level monotone dependable is intelligibly not the dependable of Mr. Buffett."

It added, "Mr. Buffett is acrophobic that these types of fraudulent videos are becoming a spreading virus. Individuals who are little acquainted with Mr. Buffett whitethorn judge these videos are existent and beryllium misled by the contents of these videos."

In April, a Berkshire release cited unspecified "reports presently circulating connected societal media" astir "comments allegedly made" by Buffett and said, "All specified reports are false."

Buffett besides warned shareholders at the 2024 Berkshire yearly gathering that AI's quality to make fake audio and video could marque scamming "the maturation manufacture of each time."

WARREN BUFFETT: If you person a temperament that erstwhile others are fearful, you're going to get frightened yourself, you know, you are not going to marque a batch of wealth successful securities implicit time, successful each probability.

You know, radical truly -- if they didn't look astatine quotations -- but of course, the full satellite is urging them to look astatine quotations, and much than that, bash thing based connected tiny changes successful quotations.

But deliberation however overmuch much rational -- we've talked astir it earlier -- but deliberation however overmuch much rational investing successful a workplace is than the mode galore radical bargain stocks.

If you bargain a farm, bash you get a punctuation adjacent week, bash you get a punctuation adjacent month? If you bargain an flat house, bash you get a punctuation adjacent week oregon month?

No, you look astatine the flat location oregon the farm, and you say, "I expect it to nutrient truthful galore bushels of soybeans and corn, and if it does that, it meets my expectations."

If they bargain a banal and they deliberation if it goes up it's wonderful, and if it goes down it's bad.

We deliberation conscionable the opposite. When it goes down, we emotion it, due to the fact that we'll bargain more. And if it goes up, it kills america to bargain more.

And I -- you cognize -- each kinds -- you know, Ben Graham wrote astir it. It's been explained. But if you can't get yourself successful that intelligence attitude, you're going to beryllium frightened whenever everybody other is scared.

And to expect idiosyncratic other to archer you erstwhile to bargain and truthful get your courageousness backmost up oregon something, you cognize --

I could get this fellow's courageousness up substantially by saying this is simply a fantastic clip to buy, and past a week from present he'd tally into idiosyncratic other that tells him the satellite is coming to an extremity and he'd sell.

I mean, he's a broker's friend, but he's not going to marque a batch of money.

Berkshire's apical holdings of disclosed publically traded stocks successful the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong, by marketplace value, based connected today's closing prices.

Holdings are arsenic of June 30, 2025 arsenic reported in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on August 14, 2025, but for:

• Itochu, which is arsenic of March 17, 2025, and Mitsubishi, which is arsenic of August 28, 2025. Tokyo Stock Exchange prices are converted to U.S. dollars from Japanese yen.

The afloat database of holdings and existent marketplace values is disposable from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

Please nonstop immoderate questions oregon comments astir the newsletter to maine at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't guardant questions oregon comments to Buffett himself.)

If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you tin motion up here.

Also, Buffett's yearly letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here connected Berkshire's website.

-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch