Second-quarter results released on Saturday revealed that the conglomerate was a net seller of stocks for the 11th straight quarter. Berkshire offloaded $6.92 billion during the quarter and bought $3.9 billion.
Meanwhile, Buffett’s cash pile kept getting bigger, hitting a fresh high of $344 billion at the end of June, up from $333 billion at the end of March. Berkshire also refrained from stock repurchases for the fourth consecutive quarter.
The legendary value-conscious investor has bemoaned the lack of good deals for years now. That includes possibilities for large acquisitions of companies that could be folded into Berkshire as well as major stock purchases for the portfolio.
At the same time, Buffett has also avoided knee-jerk moves, and the stock market saw a head-spinning plunge and rebound in April as Trump shocked Wall Street with his aggressive tariffs then put them on hold just days later.
During the selloff, the S&P 500 flirted with bear market territory, diving nearly 20% from its prior high. But the index has since shot back up to fresh records.
Despite his aversion for major purchases lately, Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders in February reaffirmed his commitment to staying invested in stocks and companies, even as cash continued to mount.
“Berkshire shareholders can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities—mostly American equities although many of these will have international operations of significance,” he wrote. “Berkshire will never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned.”
