As Greg Abel officially succeeds Warren Buffett as Chief Executive Officer, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) is quietly shifting its long-established investment tempo. From significantly increasing its stakes in Delta Air Lines and Alphabet, to nearly $20 billion in net stock purchases, to $4.5 billion in share buybacks, and to advancing large-scale acquisitions and AI-related investments consecutively, Berkshire under Abel’s leadership is progressively accelerating its capital deployment pace. Although the company still sits on over $360 billion in cash, its investment strategy has clearly pivoted to a more active stance compared with the cautious posture of previous years. This series of moves suggests that, under new leadership, the investment giant is attempting to strike a balance between maintaining its prudent foundation and expanding into new growth arenas.
Latest regulatory filings show that the investment giant further increased its positions in Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) in the second quarter, while simultaneously advancing multiple multibillion-dollar merger and acquisition transactions.
In the final years under Buffett’s helm, Berkshire repeatedly maintained relative caution due to elevated market valuations, with few large-scale investments and M&A activities. After Abel took over, however, the company pushed forward with multiple major deals consecutively in the second quarter, signaling a more aggressive willingness to deploy capital.
According to regulatory filings submitted by Berkshire on Friday, during the second full quarter after Abel assumed the CEO role, the company added 17.5 million shares of Delta Air Lines. By the end of June, the total value of Berkshire’s holding in Delta Air Lines had reached $5.37 billion. This move indicates continued optimism regarding the recovery prospects of the aviation industry.
Meanwhile, Berkshire’s increase in its Alphabet position was even more pronounced. In the second quarter, the company newly purchased 48.1 million shares of Alphabet, bringing the total value of its holdings to $37.8 billion by mid-year. At this scale, Alphabet has become Berkshire’s third-largest stock holding, trailing only its long-term heavyweight positions in Apple and Bank of America.
Berkshire had previously disclosed in its second-quarter earnings release that net stock purchases for the quarter approached $20 billion, while the company also spent approximately $4.5 billion to repurchase its own shares. The dual thrust of investment and buybacks has caused the company’s previously accumulating cash reserves to begin declining.
Data shows that as of June 30, Berkshire held $365.5 billion in cash, a decrease of $31.5 billion from the record $397.0 billion at the end of March. Nevertheless, even with this pullback, the overall cash level remains at a historically high position, leaving ample room for the company’s subsequent operations.
