Berkshire Adds $17 Billion in Alphabet in Q2, Making It Third-Largest Holding; Buffett Leads

Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile fell significantly in the second quarter of 2026, its first notable decline since early 2022. Buffett said he initiated the investment in Alphabet, which first appeared in the portfolio in the third quarter of 2025. During the quarter, Berkshire bought $10 billion of Alphabet shares directly from the company, with Goldman Sachs arranging the transaction; Abel swiftly approved it after receiving a weekend call.

In the second quarter, Berkshire increased its Alphabet stake by about $17 billion, making it the third-largest holding, surpassing Coca-Cola. As of June 30, the Alphabet stake was valued at $37.77 billion, compared with Coca-Cola's $32.51 billion. Since then, Alphabet shares have fallen 3.5% and Coca-Cola has risen 12.1%, narrowing the market-value gap to about $20 million as of the August 21 close. On July 30 and August 20, Coca-Cola briefly edged ahead.

A federal appeals court upheld the class-action settlement involving Berkshire's subsidiary HomeServices of America and the National Association of Realtors. HomeServices agreed to pay $250 million as part of a total settlement exceeding $1 billion to resolve allegations that real-estate commission sharing rules artificially inflated fees. Some plaintiffs deemed the compensation too low and plan to petition the Supreme Court for review.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy still faces a separate antitrust lawsuit over real-estate commissions; a court ruled in April that it is not covered by the HomeServices settlement. Separately, Berkshire repurchased $4.5 billion of its own stock in the second quarter. As of June 30, its cash reserves stood at $365.5 billion, down 8.0% from March 31; excluding railroad cash and Treasury bills, the figure was $359.2 billion, down 3.8%.