This is insane:
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway just announced they now hold a record $348 BILLION in cash.
Since 2022, Buffett's cash balance is up $239 BILLION and he has net SOLD stocks for 10-straight quarters.
What does Warren Buffett see here?
(a thread)
Below is Berkshire Hathaway's balance sheet:
They now hold $305.5 BILLION of US Treasury Bills and $36.9 billion of cash in their insurance and other business.
In their Railroad, Utilities and Energy business, they hold another ~$5.3 billion of cash.
This is unprecedented.
To put this in perspective, the US Federal Reserve currently holds $195.3 billion in US Treasury Bills.
This means that Berkshire Hathaway now holds ~$110.2 billion MORE of T-bills than the Fed.
Berkshire Hathaway's T-bill balance is ~56% HIGHER than the Fed itself.
Furthermore, this cash balance is larger than the market cap of all but 27 public companies in the world.
In fact, Buffett's cash pile is now larger than the market cap of Bank of America, $BAC, and Coca-Cola, $KO.
Buffett continues to accumulate cash at a rapid pace.
Not only did Berkshire Hathaway build a record cash balance, they also repurchased $0 of stock in Q1 2025.
This is the 3rd straight quarter without buybacks.
In Q3, Berkshire said buybacks will resume when Buffett “believes that the repurchase price is below intrinsic value."
The question becomes, did Warren Buffett deploy any of his cash in April?
His $348 billion cash balance is as of March 31st.
However, between March 31st and April 7th, the S&P 500 fell as much as -14%.
Since then, the S&P 500 is up ~17% from its low with many stocks up more.
While it is too soon to tell, Buffett continued to strike a cautious tone.
We believe Berkshire's Q2 earnings release and conference will be far more telling.
Most trade war volatility has materialized over the last 30 days.
The 90-day tariff pause will also be over by then.
Berkshire noted that the fair value of their 5 largest holdings represented 71% of aggregate fair value of their equity holdings.
These 5 holdings include American Express, Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, and Chevron.
Berkshire remains highly concentrated in a few names.
Buffett also commented on tariffs and the ongoing global trade war.
He said trade “should not be a weapon" and “there is no question that trade can be an act of war.”
Berkshire's operating earnings fell 14% YoY, to $9.6 billion, partially due to the effects of tariffs.
Furthermore, Warren Buffett provided some investment advice today.
He said, if you talk to a CEO, ask them this question:
If you were stuck on a desert island for 10 years, which of your competitor's stock would you buy?
And which of your competitors stock would you short?
Finally, Warren Buffett announced that he will be stepping down as CEO.
Buffett has been the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway for 55 years.
He is the longest serving CEO of any S&P 500 company.
He has also been CEO for as long as the average S&P 500 CEO has been alive.
Warren Buffett's legacy is truly unmatched.
He became CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in 1970 and the stock has returned over +330,000% since then.
We will likely never see a more successful investor than Warren Buffett.
Follow us @KobeissiLetter for more as this develops.
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