“Buffett is buying again” has been the headline going around these past weeks. The number sounds huge too: nearly $20 billion in net purchases. But there’s a second number, far less quoted, that completely changes how you should read that figure: just 5.3%.
What the headlines say
During the second quarter of 2026, Berkshire Hathaway bought approximately $23.467 billion in stocks and sold only $3.693 billion. The difference leaves net purchases of $19.774 billion. That’s a big number — but a big number, on its own, doesn’t tell the whole story.
Has its behavior really changed?
Yes, and the change is real. Throughout 2023, 2024 and 2025, Berkshire was a net seller of stocks. In 2024 alone, sales exceeded purchases by more than $134 billion. That same trend continued even into the first quarter of 2026, when Berkshire was again a net seller by more than $8.1 billion.
After three full years of selling, the second quarter of 2026 marks a real change of direction. But knowing it “bought” isn’t enough — you need to know where the money went.
The quarterly 10-Q report says how much money flowed in and out of the portfolio. The 13F filing shows which stocks Berkshire held at quarter’s end — but it’s only a snapshot as of June 30: it doesn’t reveal the exact day of each purchase or the price paid. That’s why what matters isn’t how much a position is worth today, but how much the share count grew.
The big bet: Alphabet
That’s where the quarter’s real protagonist shows up. At the end of March, Berkshire held about 57.8 million shares of Alphabet (combining Class A and Class C). By the end of June, the position had grown to nearly 106 million shares.
The move on Alphabet
+48.1 million shares added — an increase of about 83.2%
Position valued at roughly $37.8 billion at the June close
Alphabet now represents about 12.6% of the entire portfolio disclosed in the 13F
Berkshire also added to positions in Delta Air Lines, Lennar, Macy’s and The New York Times — but none come close to the scale of the Alphabet bet.
Not a broad buy-up: a rotation
While buying, Berkshire was also still selling. It trimmed positions in Bank of America, Capital One, Kroger and Nucor, and exited Constellation Brands entirely. The pattern isn’t “the whole market is cheap” — it’s a specific rotation: trimming where it sees less opportunity to concentrate far more capital where it sees more.
The number that actually matters: 5.3%
Berkshire started the second quarter with roughly $373.5 billion in cash and Treasury bills. The $19.774 billion in net purchases represent about 5.3% of that starting cash pile — put differently, for every $100 of cash on hand, it deployed about $5.30 into buying stocks.
The cash pile, before and after
Cash at the start of the quarter: ~$373.5 billion
Cash at the end of June: ~$359.2 billion
Only 5.3% of the starting cash went into net purchases
$19.774 billion sounds like an enormous figure — and it is, in absolute terms. But Berkshire is a company managing hundreds of billions, and part of that cash has to stay on hand to back its insurance operations and protect the group against extreme scenarios. The proportion, not the absolute number, is what reveals how much conviction sits behind the decision.
What this actually says
Position size speaks to how much conviction sits behind a decision. Here the message seems to be: “we’ve found opportunities good enough to start buying, but not so many as to empty the reserve.” It’s not fear. It’s not euphoria either. It’s selection — Berkshire had been waiting for years, found something it particularly likes in Alphabet, and started deploying capital without giving up its margin of safety.
A nuance about who decides
Even though people talk about “Buffett’s fund,” Berkshire Hathaway isn’t a traditional investment fund: it’s a conglomerate that also manages a large stock portfolio. Greg Abel has been CEO since January 1, 2026, while Warren Buffett remains chairman of the board, available to participate in capital allocation. The filings don’t specify who made each individual decision — the rigorous way to put it is that Berkshire bought, not that Buffett personally executed every trade.
Is the waiting over?
It’s too early to say. One buying quarter is a meaningful signal, but it doesn’t on its own prove Berkshire has started a cycle of massive purchases, nor that it considers the overall market cheap. Confirming that would require sustained net buying in coming quarters, a continued drawdown of cash, and a broadening of investments beyond one or two main positions. If you want to track Alphabet’s price, or any stock, in real time while this trend confirms itself or not, ProRealTime has the tools to do it.
Conclusion
Berkshire has stopped being a net seller and started buying — that part is real. But it did so in a highly concentrated way (mainly Alphabet) and using only 5.3% of its enormous financial firepower. The $19.774 billion speaks of opportunity; the 5.3% speaks of caution. This doesn’t look like a bet on the whole market — it looks like a selective shot. Real confirmation, if it comes, will show up in the coming quarters.
