Under Abel, BRK.B outpacing US Market ?
US companies’ quarterly earnings season that started since early-to-mid July 2026, is set to taper off by end August 2026.
Overlapping earnings’ time frame is US companies’ 13F filings for Q2 2026, is on target to complete by this Fri, 14 Aug 2026.
On Sat, 8 Aug 2026, $Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B)$ reported stronger-than-expected Q2 2026 results.
This, as CEO Greg Abel :
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Ramped up share buybacks.
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Invested heavily in other stocks.
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Began to put a dent in the $380 billion cash hoard built during Buffett’s final years of running the conglomerate.
Berkshire reported Q2 earnings of almost $25.7 billion, above Q2 2025’s $12.4 billion, attributing it to higher (a) operating profits & (b) investment portfolio gains.
Operating Profits.
Operating earnings, that remove distortion from market changes and better reflect the firm’s earnings power, grew by +16.3% to $12.98 billion for the quarter versus 2025, topping analysts’ forecast.
Per-share operating income increased by +16.5% for Q2 2026, with some more significant share repurchases, while net income more than doubled to $25.67 billion.
Year-To-Date Operating Earnings
Earnings Breakdown.
Berkshire’s most significant business by operating earnings is Insurance, followed by the manufacturing, service, and retailing (MSR) segment. (see above)
Despite the spending spree, BRK.B ended June 2026 with nearly $365 billion in cash and Treasury bills.
In its earnings report, BRK.B has cautioned that considerable uncertainty lies ahead due to macroeconomic (rising tariffs) & geopolitical developments (Middle East 6 months ongoing unrest) challenges.
Latest earnings report was the 2nd issued under Abel, who succeeded Buffett as CEO in January 2026. Buffett, who acquired control of the company in 1965, remains as chairman.
According to CFRA Research, Analyst, Cathy Seifert:
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Latest earnings report is pretty healthy beat.
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Investors will be encouraged.
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Slowly, gradually, and subtly - Greg can be seen, asserting himself as the new leader.
Rail.
The Omaha-based conglomerate said stronger results at Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) helped bolster earnings.
Railroad freight volume grew by +6.5% versus 2025, and operating earnings rose +6.3% YoY versus last year.
BNSF’s trailing 12-month operating ratio (ie. operating expenses divided by revenue) deteriorated a bit in recent Q2 2026, demonstrating a small step back in the trend of improving productivity gains. (see below)
BNSF: Trailing 12-Month Operating Ratio
Other booster will be service businesses that includes NetJets and electronic-components distributor TTI, helped offset a weaker performance at GEICO.
Auto Insurance.
Lower earnings at GEICO hurt BRK.B’s insurance earnings growth:
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For example, GEICO had a combined ratio of 91.2% in the second quarter.
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This means that $0.912 of every dollar of insurance premiums was spent on losses and expenses.
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A combined ratio above 100% indicates underwriting loss for an insurance company.
In Q2 2026, GEICO experienced an increase in claims frequency and average severity.
In addition, higher commissions and advertising expenses also weighed on the bottom line.
As a result, the insurance underwriting division saw a -13.1% drop in Q2 earnings, with GEICO the main reason, for the decline.
At BRK.B’s annual meeting, CEO Abel has acknowledged that:
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Insurance business is becoming a more challenging environment with more capital coming into the industry.
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He expects a softening in the insurance business for remainder of H2 2026
Others & Non-Control.
Non-control businesses and other income rose significantly.
No celebration please as it was mainly due to accounting for foreign currency (FX) swings on BRK.B’s non-dollar borrowing.
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Excluding the FX impact on the “other” segment, operating earnings were +5.2% YoY higher than in 2025.
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If insurance and FX are excluded, the non-insurance businesses grew operating earnings by +17.8% YoY over 2025.
Share Buyback.
BRK.B’s shares repurchase have accelerated sharply in 2026.
The company repurchased $4.5 billion in stock between April & June 2026, upped from the $235 million repurchase in Q1 2026.
It was also reported by Reuters that BRK.B has repurchased more than $3.3 billion of additional shares, last month - July 2026.
Additionally, it also became a net buyer of stocks for the first time in 14 quarters.
It also bought almost $20 billion more stock than it sold.
The spending included:
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$10 billion addition to its $Alphabet(GOOG)$ position via private placement, that is now valued at more than $28 billion.
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$6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder $Taylor Morrison Home(TMHC)$, one of BRK.B’s largest deals in recent years.
BRK.B’s activities have received mixed responses:
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Some investors have urged caution as BRK.B deploys more of its vast cash reserves.
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Lountzis Asset Mgmt, President, Paul Lountzis expressed hesitation about Greg making large deals in current market environment - in light of pricing in both private & public markets had reached unreasonable levels.
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Others said the stepped-up buybacks reflect management’s confidence that the company’s stock remains attractive.
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Gabelli Funds, Portfolio manager, Macrae Sykes stated that share repurchases made by Warren and Greg offered strong confidence in the current price and future value growth of BRK.B’s shares, calling both men outstanding investors.
Stocks Movements.
BRK.B’s Class A shares closed Fri, 07 Aug 2026 at $780,086, up +3.4% YTD but down -3.6% from record high of $809,350 in May 2025.
Class B shares ended the week at $521.80, up +3.8% YTD.
Technical Analysis.
As to whether BRK.B is a “buy” or not, deferring to Berkshire’s technical analysis of (1) Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), (2) MACD and (3) RSI.
Simple Moving Average (SMA).
On Tue, 11 Aug 2026, BRK.B closed at $516.38 per share.
This is higher than its SMAs of 20-day ($505.49), 50-day ($496.95) and 200-day ($491.35).
It signals strong bullish trend across all major timeframes. Buyers are controling the market, and momentum is positive in the short, medium, and long term.
MACD.
Both MACD line (7.89) and Signal line (6.28) are well-above the Zero line. This confirms that the prevailing medium-to-long-term price trend is solidly upward, indicating consistent structural demand.
With the MACD line sitting comfortably above the Signal line, this confirms active bullish momentum, implying buyers are maintaining short-term control and push prices higher with growing velocity.
Lastly, with a positive divergence (1.61), the wide gap indicates robust, expanding upside momentum.
RSI.
BRK.B’s 14-day RSI at 58.58, combined with above bullish MACD data confirms that i is in a sustainable, upward-trending trajectory backed by healthy buying pressure rather than speculative hype.
Conclusion.
Conclusion
BRK.B’s next chapter will not be judged by whether its new leader, Greg Abel resembles Warren Buffett, but by whether he can turn inherited trust into independent judgment.
The decisive test will not be how confidently capital is deployed, but whether each decision creates value without sacrificing the patience, discipline and downside protection that made Berkshire exceptional in the first place. Agree ?
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Do you think new CEO, Abel has proven himself to be the ‘right’ replacement ?
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Do you think BRK.B will be able to reclaim its 2025 peak of $539.80 soon?
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Rule of thumb is traders usually will sell down their positions (or exposures) for fear of the unknown over the long weekend; since Middle East tension remains and that the US navy is set to stay in the Gulf, for much longer than expected - buring cash (expenses) along the way.
What do you think ? BRK.B will end off this week higher than it started ? I really doubt it.
Did the outcome lift the sentiments at Berkshire Hathaway ? Pre-market indication for the stock is trending higher by +0.34%. Let's hope it stays this way throughout the day till 4pm.
More importantly will the rise persist till 4pm or will the outcome of Producer inflation spook US market?
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