Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company founded and run by the legendary Warren Buffett, has increased its available cash to a record high as the US stock market appears to have run out of “deals”, Markets Insider reports.
Financial data released by Berkshire for the third quarter of this year show that the company’s cash grew 7% during the period, reaching a record level for the company: $157 billion.
Berkshire’s previous high was at the end of 2021, when it had $149 billion in cash.
This amount now exceeds the combined market capitalization of companies such as Disney, IBM, Morgan Stanley, General Electric, Boeing, Starbucks or AT&T.
As for Berkshire’s market capitalization, it is $761.65 billion, making it the seventh most valuable company listed on the US stock market, behind Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon, Nvidia and Meta Platforms.
Following Berkshire in the ranking of the most valuable American companies is Tesla, whose market capitalization is $699.23 billion. The pharmaceutical company Eli Lily and the financial and banking giant Visa close the ranking of the first 10 positions.
Buffett’s company made minimal investments in buying new shares
Data released by Berkshire also showed it spent just $1.7 billion buying new shares, while selling about $7 billion.
Markets Insider notes that when Berkshire’s cash or government bonds rise, it’s usually a signal that Buffett and his company’s executives have failed to spot “deals” in the U.S. stock market.
Buffett is known for his long-term investment strategy, waiting for the right moment to buy stocks below their true value and then selling them at a profit, sometimes years later. Bloomberg estimates Buffett’s personal fortune at $118 billion, making him the seventh-richest person in the world.
But the U.S. stock market posted record gains this year on enthusiasm fueled by artificial intelligence and other developments in the technology sector, even as the upward trend suddenly slowed in the middle of the year.
From July to the end of October, the market capitalization of the 7 most valuable US technology companies fell by more than a trillion dollars.
Source: Hot News
Lori Barajas is an accomplished journalist, known for her insightful and thought-provoking writing on economy. She currently works as a writer at 247 news reel. With a passion for understanding the economy, Lori’s writing delves deep into the financial issues that matter most, providing readers with a unique perspective on current events.