Berkshire cash 3,974billion dollars; stock buying halted

Berkshire Hathaway’s cash holdings rose to 3,974billion dollars. This is a new high under its new chief executive, Greg Abel. The cash Berkshire held at the end of 2025 amounted to 3,730billion dollars.

Berkshire believes stock prices are high relative to corporate earnings. It sees few inexpensive stocks worth making a large investment in. This approach is in keeping with the value-investing strategy Warren Buffett has long followed.

Berkshire has substantially reduced its stock holdings since 2022. Its net stock sales over this period totaled 1,729 hundred million 3,000 thousand dollars. It put the proceeds into short-term U.S. Treasuries and earned interest.

Yields on short-term U.S. Treasuries were around 4~5%. Rather than making aggressive purchases in the stock market, Berkshire chose to hold cash and Treasuries. This approach limits losses, but carries an opportunity cost when stock prices are rising.

From 2023 through 2025, the U.S. stock market rose, led by large-cap growth stocks. Shares such as Nvidia, Microsoft, and Meta drove market returns higher. Berkshire did not fully participate in the large gains made by these stocks.

It has been calculated that, as a result of this conservative approach, Berkshire shareholders missed an opportunity worth around 500 returns of the S&P 1,250 hundred million dollars. A large cash balance could give Berkshire the capacity to wait for its next major acquisition or stock purchase. Conversely, if the market continues to rise, the cash allocation will weigh on returns.