Berkshire Hathaway Breaks 14-Quarter Selling Streak with $23.5 Billion Stock Purchases

Berkshire Hathaway ended a 14‑quarter net‑selling streak that began in Q4 2022 by buying $23.5 billion worth of shares.

Scope of the Deal: Private Placement vs. Public Offering

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) set the price on $18 billion of new stock on June 2 at $355.1982 per Class A share. The next day Berkshire Hathaway secured $10 billion of that issuance through a private placement.

■$5 billion of Class A shares at $351.81 each

■$5 billion of Class C shares at $348.20 each

■Public investors paid $355.1982 and $351.8018 respectively

Financial Impact: Earnings and Cash Flow

Berkshire’s Q2 filing showed net earnings doubling to $25.67 billion and operating earnings rising 16 % to $12.98 billion.

■Share buybacks jumped to $4.53 billion (from $235 million in Q1)

■Cash reserves fell from $397.4 billion to $365.5 billion

■Net stock purchases amounted to $23.5 billion versus $3.7 billion sold in the quarter

This move underscores Berkshire’s strategic tilt toward technology assets. The private placement with Alphabet provides both a price advantage and a long‑term partnership signal. In the context of the ECB’s rate trajectory and ongoing global trade tariff uncertainties, large‑cap investors gravitating toward U.S. tech equities could dampen market volatility and inject liquidity into European equity markets. Consequently, the development may reshape risk perception for investors, influencing portfolio diversification decisions of heavyweight entities like Berkshire.