Berkshire Hathaway Shifts to Cash and Buybacks as Buffett Waits for a Market Crash

Investors are monitoring Berkshire Hathaway's current behavior because its sales can depress asset prices. The company has sold more stocks than it has bought over the past two years, a shift that has led analysts to question if the broader market is overpriced. Warren Buffett has shifted the company into a defensive mode, placing funds in short-term U.S. Treasury bills to maintain liquidity. This has resulted in a cash reserve of $400 million, which the company says is enough to acquire roughly 480 companies in the S&P 500. Buffett has dismissed recent market declines of 5% or 6% as "nothing to make you get excited," stating that he is waiting for a "big decline" before making major investments. Instead of external deals, CEO Greg Abel has shifted focus toward share buybacks, which Abel says allow shareholders to "own an incrementally larger piece of Berkshire’s business, without deploying any additional capital of their own." Abel has personally purchased $15.3 million in shares and plans to continue doing so annually. The impact of Berkshire's moves is often immediate; when the company sold shares of DaVita in early 2025, the stock dropped more than 11%.