Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway shares just rallied to within 1.5% of their all-Time high
Berkshire Hathaway shares just rallied near all-time highs.
The short version
- Wall Street worried when Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO.
- Hand-picked successor Greg Abel took over the giant conglomerate.
- The business holds over $350 billion in cash reserves.
- Safe companies look attractive as tech stock worries grow.
Berkshire Hathaway shares just rallied to their highest level since Warren Buffett announced he would step down as CEO, closing within 1.5% of their all-time high, according to The Motley Fool. Warren Buffett essentially built Berkshire Hathaway into the company it is today, transforming it from a struggling shirt maker into a massive and highly successful conglomerate.
But one of the biggest changes in the company's history took place at the end of 2025, when Buffett handed over the CEO position to hand-picked successor Greg Abel, the head of Berkshire Hathaway's non-insurance operations. Wall Street's perception of the stock has changed over the roughly 10 months since that leadership transition, and it looks like investors think the business is more important than who runs it.
Given Warren Buffett's incredible investment success, many on Wall Street believed Berkshire Hathaway was awarded a premium price just because he was CEO. When he announced his retirement, the stock sold off. But the drop was fairly modest.
In fact, over the past year, the 52-week low was less than 10% below the 52-week high. What's more likely behind the stock's recovery toward all-time highs is that Abel has proven he is unlikely to destroy what Buffett built. Right now, as investors grow increasingly worried about the artificial intelligence bubble bursting, Berkshire Hathaway's diversified collection of fairly mundane, reliable, cash-flow-generating businesses looks pretty attractive.
Insurance, utilities, energy, transportation, housing, retail, and manufacturing are just some of the sectors in which the company operates. But there's another aspect of Berkshire Hathaway that is likely to be attracting investors as well: cash. At the end of the second quarter, the company had more than $350 billion in cash on its balance sheet.
If there's a bear market, that cash will act as a buffer. And it will allow Abel to step in and buy while others sell, just as his predecessor liked to do. It will be a few years before the success of the CEO transition can really be judged.
