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

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The rally in Berkshire shares offset their poor performance against the benchmark index Standard & Poor’s 500 to 4.3 percentage points from 12.2 percentage points on October 29.

Operating profits for Berkshire’s wholly-owned businesses rose 34% to nearly $13.5 billion in the third quarter, with a 200% increase in insurance underwriting income.

There were again no stock buybacks, a sign that Buffett does not believe Berkshire shares are undervalued despite their value. Weakness since May.

With no money spent on buying back Berkshire shares and stock sales outpacing purchases, the company’s cash at September 30 was $381.7 billion, up 10.9% since the end of June.

If you subtract BNSF’s cash and account for the timing of some Treasury purchases, the total is $354.3 billion, up 4.3% from June.

The company confirmed this week in A press release What’s that? L said Wall Street Journal Last week.

“On Monday, November 10, Berkshire will issue a press release containing a letter from Mr. Buffett regarding philanthropy, Berkshire, and other matters that Berkshire shareholders and others may find of interest.”

The charity part is probably related to it Annual Thanksgiving contributions To the foundations of the family.

The “Berkshire and other matters” segment could serve as a farewell message as he prepares for that Step down from the position of CEO At the end of the year.

While he will remain chairman of the board, he will not be on stage at next May’s meeting and new CEO Greg Appel will write the annual letter to shareholders.

Since he appears to be deliberately limiting his future opportunities to speak to shareholders and the rest of the world, Buffett may be ready to have the last word now.

We won’t know for sure until next Friday’s release of Berkshire’s third-quarter stock portfolio, but it appears there has been more sales. apple shares during the three months ended September 30.

CNBC.com Yun Li notices Berkshire 10-o’clock last Saturday It reported a $1.2 billion decline in cost basis for consumer products stocks, which include Apple.

It also suggests that Apple’s 24% gain during the quarter would have provided an opportunity for Buffett to generate more profits.

Apple remains Berkshire’s largest holding, currently worth $75.2 billion, but it has reduced its position by 69% over the past two years.

Baron He divides that $1.2 billion cost-basis decline by $35, on Apple’s per-share basis, to estimate that Berkshire probably sold 35 million shares for about $8 billion, based on Apple’s average price of $230 per share during the quarter.

With Apple announcing in the tenth quarter its stock sales worth $12.4 billion in the third quarter, Baron Much of the remaining $4.4 billion may be, he suggests Bank of America Sales, another large position that Berkshire has cut sharply.

This share has been reduced by about 40% since the beginning of last year.

With a value of $32.2 billion, it is the third largest company owned by Berkshire.

A press release “In general, these video images of Mr. Buffett may appear to resemble him, but the voice of the imitator speaking in a very flat, monotone voice is clearly not Mr. Buffett’s voice,” he said Thursday.

She added: “Mr. Buffett is concerned that these types of scam videos are becoming viral. Individuals less familiar with Mr. Buffett may believe these videos are real and be misled by the contents of these videos.”

In April a Berkshire release He cited “unspecified reports currently circulating on social media” about “alleged comments” made by Buffett, and said: “All of these reports are false.”

Buffett also warned shareholders At Berkshire’s 2024 annual meeting, he said AI’s ability to create fake audio and video clips could make fraud “the growth industry of all time.”

Warren Buffett explains Why should investors look at their stocks the same way they look at owning a farm or a condo?

Warren Buffett: If you have the temperament that when other people feel fear, you will feel fear, you know, you’re not going to make a lot of money from securities over time, in all likelihood.

You know, people really — if they don’t look at the quotes — but of course, the whole world is urging them to look at the quotes, and even more so, do something based on small changes in the quotes.

But think how much more rational it is – we’ve talked about this before – but think how much more rational it is to invest in a farm than the way a lot of people buy stocks.

If you buy a farm, do you get a quote next week, do you get a quote next month? If you buy a residential home, do you get a quote next week or next month?

No, you look at a homestead or a farm, and you say, “I expect it to produce a lot of soybeans and corn, and if it does, it meets my expectations.”

If they buy a stock and think that if it goes up that’s great, if it goes down that’s bad.

We believe exactly the opposite. When prices fall, we like it, because we will buy more. If it goes up, it kills us to buy more.

And I – you know – all kinds of – you know, Ben Graham wrote about it. This has been explained. But if you can’t put yourself in that mental position, you’ll feel afraid when everyone else feels afraid.

And to expect someone else to tell you when to buy so you can get your courage back or something, you know–

I can greatly boost this guy’s courage by saying this is a great time to buy, and a week from now he’ll run into someone else telling him the world is coming to an end and he’ll sell.

I mean he’s a broker friend, but he’s not going to make a lot of money.

Holdings as of June 30, 2025 as stated in Berkshire Hathaway Files 13F On August 14, 2025, except for:

The complete list of properties and current market values ​​is available at CNBC.com Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don’t send any questions or comments to Buffett himself.)

If you are not already subscribed to this newsletter, you can subscribe here.

It is also highly recommended to read Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders. There it is collected Here on the Berkshire website.

— Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch