Warren Buffett is one of the greatest investors in history. He spent over 70 years publicly managing money, including 60 years at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB). But the last three years before he retired were marked by behavior that many investors couldn’t help but notice.
In each of Buffett’s last 13 quarters in charge of Berkshire’s massive equity portfolio, he sold more stock than he bought. The result was a massive increase in cash, which climbed from $129 billion at the end of 2022 to $373 billion by the time Buffett left. The selling behavior had a clear implication: Most stocks that held Buffett’s interest were expensive.
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Newly installed CEO Greg Abel continued selling stock during the first quarter of 2026, but a few big purchases may have ended the streak. Buffett is still advising Abel on investments, and investors may be wondering whether the shift toward buying more is a sign that he finally sees opportunities in this market.
What is Greg Abel buying and selling?
Abel and co-manager Ted Weschler bought almost $16 billion of marketable equities in the first quarter. That’s nearly as much as Buffett spent on equities in all of last year. To be sure, the departure of Todd Combs at the end of last year and Weschler taking over a larger portion of the portfolio likely led to more buying and selling than in a usual quarter. But the increase may also indicate that Abel sees more opportunities in today’s market.
That said, Berkshire sold over $24 billion worth of equities last quarter as well. As mentioned, that likely includes selling off a large amount of Combs’ investments.
Readers may look at those numbers and note that the amount of equities sold last quarter still exceeds the amount purchased. However, Berkshire also purchased OxyChem from Occidental Petroleum last quarter for $9.7 billion. That’s noted in a line item on Berkshire’s cash flow statement called “Acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired.”
That line item is typically only included in Berkshire’s annual reports. The inclusion in last quarter’s report seems intentional, as if to signal to investors that Berkshire is indeed deploying capital for shareholders. And when you add the OxyChem purchase to Berkshire’s other stock purchases, it outweighs the equity sales last quarter.
