Warren Buffett raises Berkshire cash level to record $277 billion after slashing stock holdings

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Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile swelled to a record $276.9 billion last quarter as Warren Buffett sold big chunks in stock holdings including Apple.

The Omaha-based conglomerate's cash hoard jumped significantly higher from the previous record of $189 billion, set in the first quarter of 2024. The increase came after the Oracle of Omaha sold nearly half of his stake in Tim Cook-led tech giant in the second quarter.

Berkshire has been a seller of stocks for seven quarters straight, but that selling accelerated in the last period with Buffett shedding more than $75 billion in equities in the second quarter. That brings the total of stocks sold in the first half of 2024 to more than $90 billion. The selling by Buffett has continued in the third quarter in some areas with Berkshire trimming its second biggest stake, Bank of America, for 12 consecutive days, filing this week showed.

For the second quarter, Berkshire's operating earnings, which encompass profits from the conglomerate's fully-owned businesses, enjoyed a jump thanks to the strength in auto insurer Geico. Operating earnings totaled $11.6 billion in the second quarter, up about 15% from $10 billion a year prior.

Buffett, who turns 94 at the end of the month, confessed at Berkshire's annual meeting in May that he is willing to deploy capital, but high prices give him pause.

«We'd love to spend it, but we won't spend it unless we think [a business is] doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money,» the investment icon said at the time. «It isn't like I've got a hunger strike or something like that going on. It's just that … things aren't attractive.»

The conglomerate bought back just $345 million worth of its own stock in