Warren Buffett’s money fortress Berkshire closes hole with S&P 500 as AI worries depress Wall Avenue

(That is the Warren Buffett Watch e-newsletter, information and evaluation on all issues Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You may join right here to obtain it each Friday night in your inbox.)

The upturn for Berkshire shares has minimize its underperformance versus the benchmark S&P 500 to 4.3 proportion factors from 12.2 proportion factors on October 29.

Working earnings for Berkshire’s wholly owned firms had been up 34% to nearly $13.5 billion within the third quarter, with a 200% enhance for insurance coverage underwriting earnings.

There have been once more no inventory buybacks, an indication Buffett doesn’t suppose Berkshire shares are considerably undervalued regardless of their weak spot since Could.

With no cash spent on shopping for again Berkshire shares and fairness gross sales outpacing purchases, the corporate’s September 30 money hit $381.7 billion, up 10.9% because the finish of June.

In case you subtract BNSF’s money and account for the timing of some Treasury invoice purchases, the entire is $354.3 billion, up 4.3% from June.

Warren Buffett could also be delivering his ultimate message as Berkshire’s CEO subsequent Monday.

This week the corporate confirmed in a information launch what it instructed the Wall Avenue Journal final week.

“On Monday, November tenth, Berkshire shall be issuing a press launch which will include a message from Mr. Buffett relating to philanthropy, Berkshire and different issues that Berkshire shareholders and others could discover to be of curiosity.”

The philanthropy half will most likely be related to his annual Thanksgiving contributions to household foundations.

The “Berkshire and different issues” portion may very well be one thing of a farewell message as he prepares to step down as CEO on the finish of the 12 months.

Whereas he’ll stay chairman of the board, he won’t be on stage at subsequent Could’s assembly and new CEO Greg Abel shall be writing the annual letter to shareholders.

Since he seems to be deliberately limiting his future alternatives to talk to shareholders and the remainder of the world, Buffett could also be able to have his ultimate say now.

We cannot know for positive till subsequent Friday’s launch of Berkshire’s Q3 fairness portfolio snapshot, but it surely appears to be like like there have been extra gross sales of Apple shares in the course of the three months ending September 30.

CNBC.com’s Yun Li notes Berkshire’s 10-Q final Saturday reported a $1.2 billion decline in its value foundation for shopper product shares, which would come with Apple.

She additionally factors out that Apple’s 24% acquire in the course of the quarter would have offered a possibility for Buffett to lock in additional earnings.

Apple stays Berkshire’s largest fairness holding, at the moment valued at $75.2 billion, but it surely has minimize the place by 69% over the previous two years.

Barron’s divides that $1.2 billion value foundation drop by $35, Apple’s per-share foundation, to estimate Berkshire could have offered 35 million shares for round $8 billion, primarily based on Apple’s common worth of $230 per share in the course of the quarter.

With Apple reporting in its 10-Q that it had $12.4 billion in Q3 fairness gross sales, Barron’s suggests a variety of the remaining $4.4 billion could also be Financial institution of America gross sales, one other large place that Berkshire has been sharply decreasing.

That stake has been minimize by round 40% because the starting of final 12 months.

At $32.2 billion, it’s Berkshire’s third largest fairness holding.

All 5 of the shares are at or close to all-time highs.

The mixed worth of Berkshire’s reported holdings is approaching $33 billion, up from $31 billion only one month in the past.

The determine may very well be even larger assuming a few of Berkshire’s continued shopping for has not but been publicly revealed.

Berkshire Hathaway has a brand new warning about YouTube movies with “pictures or AI created pictures impersonating” Warren Buffett.

A information launch Thursday stated, “Typically, such video pictures of Mr. Buffett could seem to appear like him however the sound of the impersonator talking in a really flat monotone voice is clearly not the voice of Mr. Buffett.”

It added, “Mr. Buffett is worried that most of these fraudulent movies have gotten a spreading virus. People who’re much less accustomed to Mr. Buffett could imagine these movies are actual and be misled by the contents of those movies.”

In April, a Berkshire launch cited unspecified “experiences at the moment circulating on social media” about “feedback allegedly made” by Buffett and stated, “All such experiences are false.”

Buffett additionally warned shareholders on the 2024 Berkshire annual assembly that AI’s potential to create pretend audio and video may make scamming “the expansion trade of all time.”

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Warren Buffett explains why traders ought to take a look at their shares the identical manner they might take a look at proudly owning a farm or an condo.

WARREN BUFFETT: When you’ve got a temperament that when others are fearful, you are going to get scared your self, you already know, you aren’t going to make some huge cash in securities over time, possibly.

You recognize, individuals actually — in the event that they did not take a look at quotations — however in fact, the entire world is urging them to have a look at quotations, and greater than that, do one thing primarily based on small modifications in quotations.

However suppose how rather more rational — we have talked about it earlier than — however suppose how rather more rational investing in a farm is than the way in which many individuals purchase shares.

In case you purchase a farm, do you get a quote subsequent week, do you get a quote subsequent month? In case you purchase an condo home, do you get a quote subsequent week or month?

No, you take a look at the condo home or the farm, and also you say, “I anticipate it to supply so many bushels of soybeans and corn, and if it does that, it meets my expectations.”

In the event that they purchase a inventory they usually suppose if it goes up it is great, and if it goes down it is dangerous.

We predict simply the other. When it goes down, we adore it, as a result of we’ll purchase extra. And if it goes up, it kills us to purchase extra.

And I — you already know — all types — you already know, Ben Graham wrote about it. It has been defined. However if you cannot get your self in that psychological perspective, you are going to be scared each time all people else is scared.

And to anticipate anyone else to inform you when to purchase and due to this fact get your braveness again up or one thing, you already know —

I may get this fellow’s braveness up considerably by saying it is a great time to purchase, after which per week from now he’d run into anyone else that tells him the world is coming to an finish and he’d promote.

I imply, he is a dealer’s good friend, however he isn’t going to make some huge cash.

Berkshire’s high holdings of disclosed publicly traded shares within the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong, by market worth, primarily based on at this time’s closing costs.

Holdings are as of June 30, 2025 as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F submitting on August 14, 2025, apart from:

The total record of holdings and present market values is on the market from CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

Please ship any questions or feedback in regards to the e-newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, however we do not ahead questions or feedback to Buffett himself.)

In case you aren’t already subscribed to this text, you may join right here.

Additionally, Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders are extremely really helpful studying. There are collected right here on Berkshire’s web site.

— Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch