Berkshire's $23.5B Buy Spree Breaks a 14-Quarter Selling Streak-Google Got the Biggest Check

Berkshire's net-buying pause ends after 14 quarters

Berkshire Hathaway ended 14 straight quarters as a net seller of stocks and was a net buyer in the second quarter. Reuters said Berkshire bought nearly $20 billion more stocks than it sold between April and June. Reuters also said Berkshire ended June with $364.7 billion of cash, down from a record $380.2 billion three months earlier. That turns this from a routine portfolio adjustment into a noticeable shift in behavior.

Why the timing matters

The timing matters because Berkshire was still sitting on nearly $400 billion cash pile at the end of March when CNBC reported its latest Alphabet purchase. By the end of June, cash had fallen to $364.7 billion. That suggests Berkshire is starting to deploy capital now rather than leaving it parked for an uncertain future.

Buybacks came alongside new stock purchases

Berkshire did not just buy outside stocks. It repurchased $4.5 billion of its own stock in the second quarter and over $3.3 billion more in July. That matters because it shows Berkshire was aggressive on both fronts: adding to equity holdings and buying back Berkshire shares at the same time.

Alphabet was the defining trade inside Berkshire's buying quarter

The bigger story is not simply that Berkshire started buying again. It is what Berkshire bought.

Why the Alphabet purchase matters more than the headline

A nearly $20 billion net stock purchase is notable for any large investor. But Berkshire also made an additional $10 billion in Alphabet through a private stock purchase. That was not incidental trading. Berkshire added $5 billion of Class A shares at $351.81 apiece and another $5 billion of Class C stock at $348.20 per share. Size plus private pricing makes this a stronger conviction signal than a routine quarterly rebalance.

Berkshire is buying into Alphabet's AI buildout

Alphabet said it plans to use the proceeds for capital expenditures to expand its AI infrastructure and global computing capacity. That means Berkshire is not just adding a familiar mega-cap holding. It is buying exposure to a company tied to search, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure.

The main debate: concentrated quality or too much mega-cap tech

The bullish read is straightforward: Berkshire is adding to an already-large position in a dominant platform rather than stretching for weaker opportunities. The bearish read is that Berkshire is still leaning heavily into mega-cap technology, leaving less room if AI spending fails to produce commensurate profits.

What to watch next with Berkshire and Alphabet

This is now less about one quarter and more about what Berkshire is willing to do next. If the Alphabet purchase is only the first visible move, later trades will matter more than the narrative around this quarter.

Signals that Berkshire is leaning into a new allocation pace

• Additional large public or private equity purchases
• Continued buybacks alongside outside investments
• More evidence Berkshire is using its cash buffer to build concentrated positions

What would weaken the bullish interpretation

• A return to net selling in the next quarter
• No follow-through deals after this unusually active period
• Evidence that Berkshire is rotating out of Alphabet rather than holding through volatility

The key question is no longer whether Berkshire has started buying again. It is whether this quarter marks a durable change in how Berkshire uses cash or simply reflects a narrow window of opportunity.