Berkshire Hathaway\u2019s third-quarter earnings report on Saturday revealed Warren Buffett continued to sell more stocks than he bought with the legendary investor poised to step down as CEO by year\u2019s end. <\/p>\n
The conglomerate sold $12.5 billion of stock in the latest period and bought $6.4 billion, marking the 12th consecutive quarter of net selling. More details on specific stocks will come in a separate regulatory filing later this month.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Berkshire\u2019s cash hoard swelled to a fresh record high of $382 billion as operating earnings jumped 34% while Buffett held off on buying back stock for the fifth straight quarter.<\/p>\n
As the company\u2019s stock portfolio has shrunk, money has been shifting into Treasury debt. But with short-term rates falling recently, Berkshire\u2019s third-quarter net investment income dropped 13% to $3.2 billion.<\/p>\n
The cautious stance on stock investing began in 2022, when the Federal Reserve launched its most aggressive rate-hiking campaign in more than 40 years to rein in inflation.<\/p>\n
That tightening slammed stock valuations, but apparently not enough to trigger Buffett\u2019s bargain-hunting instincts. The Fed\u2019s subsequent pivot to rate cuts later sparked a rally that sent stocks to new highs.<\/p>\n
More recently, the massive market selloff in April, after President Donald Trump unveiled his shocking tariffs, also didn\u2019t get Buffett off the sidelines<\/a>. In the second quarter, Berkshire sold $3 billion in stocks on net.<\/p>\n Markets quickly bounced back and set new highs just months later with AI-related companies leading the charge. By contrast, Berkshire Hathaway shares have lost 12% since May, when Buffett announced that he will step down as CEO<\/a> by the end of the year and hand over the role to Greg Abel.<\/p>\n While Buffett is expected to stay on as chairman, he may be staying away from dramatic moves to clear the decks for Abel, who had already been taking on a\u00a0bigger leadership role<\/a>\u00a0before May.<\/p>\n