Berkshire Hathaway's cash and short-term investments reached an unprecedented $276.9 billion in the second quarter of 2024, a substantial increase from $189 billion in the prior quarter. This surge was primarily driven by Warren Buffett's decision to sell off a considerable portion of Berkshire's stock holdings, most notably cutting its stake in Apple by nearly 50%. This marks the seventh consecutive quarter of net stock selling by Berkshire.
The conglomerate's operating profit saw a healthy rise, increasing 15% to $11.6 billion from $10.04 billion in the same period last year. This growth was largely attributed to strong performance in its insurance businesses, particularly auto insurer Geico. However, net income for the quarter declined by 15% to $30.34 billion, down from $35.91 billion a year earlier, due to lower gains from rising stock prices impacting the value of Berkshire's investment portfolio.
Berkshire engaged in a substantial selling spree, offloading $75.5 billion worth of stocks on a net basis in the second quarter alone, bringing the total stock sales for the first half of 2024 to over $90 billion. Beyond Apple, Berkshire also trimmed its second-largest holding, Bank of America, for 12 consecutive days. Analysts like Jim Shanahan of Edward Jones view this as a significant "sell signal," indicating a higher level of selling than anticipated.
The company's share repurchase activity slowed considerably, with only $345 million worth of its own stock bought back in the second quarter. This is a sharp contrast to the $2 billion repurchased in each of the two preceding quarters and represents the lowest buyback amount since a policy change in 2018. Buffett has expressed caution about deploying capital given high valuations and limited attractive investment opportunities.
Historically, Berkshire reported a near-record $344.1 billion cash stake in a previous period (Q2 2025), alongside a $3.76 billion write-down on its Kraft Heinz investment, and a 4% decline in quarterly operating profit due to lower insurance underwriting premiums, with overall net income dropping 59% due to the write-down and lower stock gains.
