Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile swelled to a record $276.9 billion as Warren Buffett continued dumping his one-time favorite Apple stake.
Warren Buffett walks the floor and meets with Berkshire Hathaway shareholders ahead of their annual meeting in Omaha , Nebraska on May 3rd, 2024.'s cash pile swelled to a record $276.9 billion last quarter as Warren Buffett sold big chunks in stock holdings includingBerkshire has been a seller of stocks for seven quarters straight, but that selling accelerated in the last period with Buffett shedding more than $75 billion in equities in the second quarter.
For the second quarter, Berkshire's operating earnings, which encompass profits from the conglomerate's fully-owned businesses, enjoyed a jump thanks to the strength in auto insurer Geico. Operating earnings totaled $11.6 billion in the second quarter, up about 15% from $10 billion a year prior. Buffett, who turns 94 at the end of the month, confessed at Berkshire's annual meeting in May that he is willing to deploy capital, but high prices give him pause.
"We'd love to spend it, but we won't spend it unless we think doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money," the investment icon said at the time. "It isn't like I've got a hunger strike or something like that going on. It's just that … things aren't attractive." The S&P 500 has surged the last two years to record levels as investors bet the Federal Reserve would lower inflation with higher interest rates, while avoiding an economic recession. So far, that has played out with the S&P 500 up 12% in 2024. However, concerns about a slowing economy have been awakened recently by some weak data, including Friday's disappointing July jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 600 points on Friday.
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