Berkshire Hathaway repurchased about $9.6 billion of its Class A and Class B stock in the third quarter of 2026, the most it has ever spent on buybacks in a single quarter. The figure is more than double the $4.5 billion repurchased in the second quarter, according to CNBC's report on results released on Saturday, November 7th, 2026.
One piece of the framing circulating around the number needs fixing. Greg Abel is not preparing to take over at Berkshire. Abel, 64, became chief executive on January 1st, 2026, succeeding Warren Buffett, and the third quarter was his third quarter in the job, per Reuters (carried by Business Insurance) and 24/7 Wall St.
What happened
Berkshire's Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30th, 2026 states that the company acquired $14.4 billion of treasury stock in the first nine months of the year, including September purchases that settled in October. CNBC reports the same $14.4 billion year to date figure.
Yahoo Finance's reading of the filing puts the quarter's activity at about 12.4 million Class B shares at an average price of $503.68, plus 4,536 Class A shares, with the heaviest buying in September. The Motley Fool's month by month breakdown of the same filing is roughly $3.4 billion in July at about $496 a B share, about $847 million in August at about $504, and about $5.4 billion in September at about $507. The $9.6 billion edges past the roughly $9.3 billion spent in the third quarter of 2020, with Bloomberg Intelligence and MarketScreener also calling it a record.
Where the stock stands
Class B shares closed at $570.89 on Friday, November 6th, 2026, which is 13.3% above the average price Berkshire paid during the quarter, per Yahoo Finance. The shares had set a record close of $579.09 earlier that week and were up 13.6% for the year against 7.8% for the S&P 500 ETF SPY.
The facts do not establish what drove that performance, and no outlet we read carried a direct quote from Abel or Buffett about the third quarter repurchases. Our own insider record has nothing to add here: these were company purchases of its own shares, not individual transactions by officers or directors of Berkshire Hathaway.
What the rest of the quarter shows
The buyback record arrived alongside weaker earnings. Operating earnings fell 5.8% to $12.705 billion from $13.485 billion a year earlier, per Berkshire's 8-K earnings release and CNBC, while net earnings fell 28% to $22.112 billion from $30.796 billion as investment gains shrank. Bloomberg, via Insurance Journal, reported that insurance underwriting earnings fell 43% as Geico faced higher losses and a surge in underwriting expenses, and that insurance net investment income fell 14% to $2.7 billion on lower short term interest rates.
The cash pile depends on how it is counted, and the sources differ by definition. CNBC put it at $377.435 billion at September 30th, up 3% from $365.514 billion at June 30th, but at $352.3 billion, down 1.9% in the quarter, excluding rail and utility cash and Treasury bill payables. Bloomberg and Insurance Journal cited $377.4 billion, or about $357 billion after deducting $20.5 billion of unsettled Treasury bill purchases.
In the stock market Berkshire was close to flat. Bloomberg reported a net $426 million of equity holdings sold, while StockAnalysis.com, citing the cash flow statement, reported about $2.8 billion of stock sold against about $2.4 billion bought. CNBC reports the five largest equity holdings were unchanged: Alphabet, American Express, Apple, Bank of America and Coca-Cola. The quarter's largest outlay elsewhere was the July 24th, 2026 acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison for aggregate cash consideration of approximately $6.8 billion.
What to watch
The intrinsic value test has not gone away. The Q3 10-Q states the program permits buybacks whenever the chief executive, after consultation with the chairman of the board, believes the price is below Berkshire's intrinsic value, conservatively determined, and that Berkshire will not repurchase if doing so cuts consolidated cash, cash equivalents and U.S. Treasury Bill holdings below $30 billion. The Motley Fool notes that September buying happened above where an older book value based limit of roughly $429 a B share would have allowed.
That consultation now runs through a different chair. Berkshire announced on September 18th, 2026 that Buffett, 96, had been named Chairman Emeritus while remaining a director, and that his son Howard G. Buffett, a director since 1993, was elected chairman. The claim that Berkshire repurchased no stock at all during 2025, which underpins most of the acceleration framing, comes from The Motley Fool via The Globe and Mail and we have not read a 2025 full year filing confirming it. The closest thing to an explanation on the record is from Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Palazola, who said equity valuations were probably less attractive to Abel during the quarter.
Reporting from CNBC, Reuters via Business Insurance, Bloomberg via Insurance Journal, Yahoo Finance and 24/7 Wall St., The Motley Fool, StockAnalysis.com, MarketScreener and Berkshire's own SEC filings and Business Wire release, covering results published on November 7th, 2026.
Informational only, not investment advice.