OMAHA, Neb. (AP) \u2014 Berkshire Hathaway\u2019s new CEO Greg Abel spent a significant chunk of the company\u2019s massive pile of cash as it invested $10 billion in Google\u2019s parent company and repurchased about $4.5 billion of its shares.<\/p>\n
The conglomerate that legendary investor Warren Buffett built reported its second-quarter earnings<\/a> Saturday morning and disclosed that its cash holdings had shrunk to $365.5 billion from nearly $400 billion at the end of March. <\/p>\n Berkshire\u2019s report suggested that it had added more than $21 billion worth of commercial, industrial and other stocks to its portfolio, but the earnings report doesn\u2019t name the stocks it bought. That won\u2019t be revealed until a separate filing later this month. <\/p>\n Abel took over as CEO in January when Buffett retired<\/a> after six decades leading the company. But Buffett remains chairman. <\/p>\n CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert said investors should be encouraged by the amount of shares Berkshire\u2019s repurchased although Geico\u2019s performance was a concern because its underwriting profits fell 45% and lagged far behind other big auto insurers. <\/p>\n \u201cI think there are two key takeaways that should encourage investors: The fact that they bought back shares after not having done things of this magnitude for several years now. And the other positive thing is the ability to produce the 10% operating revenue growth in the quarter,\u201d Seifert said.<\/p>\n Abel announced in March<\/a> that Berkshire had resumed buying back its own shares for the first time in more than two years, but investors were underwhelmed when the company only repurchased about $234 million worth of Berkshire stock in the first quarter. <\/p>\n The purchases in the second quarter that were disclosed Saturday demonstrate that Berkshire is serious about buybacks, but it is on the low end of the range that investors were expecting. Buffett watchers had been predicting repurchases somewhere between $5 billion and $11 billion based on a filing Buffett made when he announced his annual charitably donations in July.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s standard is that it only repurchases shares when Abel and Buffett believes<\/a> they are selling for less than they are worth. They do not plan to spend a specific amount like many companies do. Most of Berkshire\u2019s repurchases were made in June. They may not be buying much now as the stock just hit a new 52-week high on Thursday. <\/p>\n Berkshire previously repurchased $78 billion worth of its own stock between 2018 and 2024. <\/p>\n