Berkshire called its own stock cheap every quarter of 2026, buying back USD 14.4 bn

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has called its own stock cheap every quarter of this year, even as 3Q earnings fell c. 28%. The NYSE-listed conglomerate bought back none of its shares last year, but that changed when Greg Abel took the helm as CEO from Buffett in January. Berkshire repurchased about USD 14.4 bn of its own stock over 9M 2026, with the amounts climbing every quarter, from USD 235 mn in 1Q to USD 4.5 bn in 2Q and USD 9.6 bn in 3Q, according to its quarterly SEC filing.

That’s Berkshire’s own rule: The conglomerate only buys back shares when its CEO (after consulting the chairman) judges the price to be below intrinsic value, conservatively determined, according to the filing. Its share count was still falling through 28 October, the filing’s cover date, a sign the buying continued after the quarter closed. The buying also accelerated through 3Q, with more than half of the quarter’s purchases coming in September at an average of around USD 758k per Class A share, or roughly 1.4x book value by our math.

The USD 9.6 bn was a record for quarterly buybacks, the Financial Times reports. Investors read it as a vote of confidence: Abel is “showing confidence in Berkshire and the prospect of its businesses,” J Stern & Co CIO Christopher Rossbach told the salmon-colored paper. Check Capital’s Chris Ballard told the publication the stock had looked deeply undervalued in recent months.

Over the same quarter, Berkshire was a small net seller of listed equities, Bloomberg reports. Its own stock came first, then a whole company (the USD 6.8 bn Taylor Morrison takeover), and listed equities came last. That’s a sharp turn from 2Q, when heavy stock buying left Berkshire a net buyer of about USD 11 bn of listed equities.

The market is backing the call. Berkshire’s Class A shares closed at a record of around USD 869k last week, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Financial Times says the stock is up 15% this year, against the S&P 500’s 8% total return. Glenview Trust’s Bill Stone told the London daily that investors are treating Berkshire as a flight to safety as tech stocks slide, and he described Abel to the Journal as “more interested in being a better operator than Warren Buffett ever was.”

Ins. weighed on the quarter, while the rest of the group grew. Operating earnings slipped 5.8% to USD 12.7 bn as pre-tax underwriting income fell to USD 1.68 bn from USD 3.16 bn, the filing shows, with its US car ins. arm Geico’s claims costs rising. Ballard told the Associated Press the slowdown was expected as Geico steps up advertising to draw new customers after years of cuts. Elsewhere, railroad earnings rose 19.3%, energy 8.3%, and manufacturing, service, and retail 11.8% — gains the Journal reports some shareholders see as early evidence of Abel’s operator-first approach.

Why it matters: Berkshire is the market’s most-watched buyer of last resort, and its USD 352 bn pile has stayed put through the AI rally. A new CEO who would rather buy back his own stock than anything else on offer is the clearest read yet on what the world’s biggest value investor makes of this market.

What’s next: Berkshire’s 3Q 13F, due 16 November, will show exactly which stocks it trimmed and which it kept. With USD 352 bn still on hand, Stone told the Financial Times that Berkshire would be ready to buy if the AI trade unravels.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets rose earlier today, led by a 1.3% advance in South Korea’s Kospi, an approximate 1% gain in Japan’s Nikkei 225, and a climb of up to 0.8% in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Stronger-than-projected earnings from CoreWeave Inc. underpinned the rally and revived interest in the artificial intelligence trade, helping counter an inflation-driven pullback on Wall Street.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The DFM rose 1.4% yesterday on turnover of AED 1.9 bn. The index is up 2.0% YTD.

In the green: Dubai Islamic Ins. and Reinsurance Co. (+8.3%), Aramex (+7.5%), and Alec Holdings (+5.5%).

In the red: Dubai Refreshment Company (-5.0%), National Industries Group Holding (-4.7%), and Shuaa Capital (-4.6%).

Over on the ADX, the index rose 0.8% on turnover of AED 2.5 bn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai was up 1.5%.