Warren Buffett amasses more cash and sells more stock, but doesn't explain why in annual letter

cnbc.com:

The mystery over Warren Buffett's surprisingly defensive stance deepened over the weekend.

The 94-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway sold more stocks in the latest quarter and grew a record cash pile even larger to $334 billion, but failed to explain in his highly anticipated annual letter why the investor known for his astute equity purchases over time was seemingly battening down the hatches.

Instead Buffett said that this posture in no way represented a move away from his love for stocks.

«Despite what some commentators currently view as an extraordinary cash position at Berkshire, the great majority of your money remains in equities,» Buffett wrote in the 2024 annual letter released Saturday. «That preference won't change.»

Berkshire's monstrous ownership of cash has raised questions among shareholders and observers especially as interest rates are expected to fall from their multi-year highs. The Berkshire CEO and chairman in recent years has expressed frustration about an expensive market and few buying opportunities. Some investors and analysts have grown impatient with the lack of action and have sought an explanation why.

Despite his repeated selling of stock, Buffett said Berkshire will continue to prefer equities to cash.

«Berkshire shareholders can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities – mostly American equities although many of these will have international operations of significance,» Buffett wrote. «Berkshire will never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned.»

Shareholders will have to wait a little longer it seems as the Omaha-based conglomerate net sold equities for a