The increase came from Berkshire's energy, railroad, and manufacturing operations, which outweighed softer insurance results. More importantly, the numbers indicate that Greg Abel, 64, has started directing the enormous cash reserve built by Warren Buffett toward share repurchases and stock investments.
Operating profit reached $12.98 billion in the quarter, compared with $11.16 billion in the same period last year. The manufacturing, service, and retailing segment generated $4.47 billion, up 24%. Berkshire Hathaway Energy's profit climbed 27%, reaching $891 million. BNSF, Berkshire's rail carrier, earned $1.56 billion, up 6%.
Insurance lagged. Underwriting income was $1.73 billion, down 13% from the $1.99 billion reported a year earlier. Insurance investment income was $3.06 billion, 9% lower. The weakness in insurance was enough to stand out, but the rest of the company grew enough to push operating earnings higher.
Greg Abel, 64, became CEO at the beginning of 2026, making this his second fiscal period as CEO. The $4.5 billion buyback was a significant increase from the $235 million in buybacks during Q1 2026, though it may have been below some forecasts ahead of the results.
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The decline in Berkshire's cash balance reflected both the buybacks and other capital deployments, including the completion of Berkshire's acquisition of Taylor Morrison during the quarter.
The latest results also show how much the balance of power has changed: Abel is now the one making capital-allocation decisions. Berkshire's operating businesses range from the BNSF railroad and Berkshire Hathaway Energy to insurance and a large manufacturing, service, and retailing segment. Taylor Morrison adds homebuilding to that group, and the reduced cash balance shows Abel is willing to use Berkshire's firepower in several directions at once.
Berkshire also ended its run as a net seller of stocks. In Q2, Berkshire purchased nearly $20 billion more in equities than it sold. The company had sold more stock than it bought for 14 straight quarters before that.
Buffett, now chairman, left Abel a fortress of cash unlike anything corporate America had ever seen. That fortress is still enormous, but Abel has started to put it to work through buybacks and stock purchases.
The shift is notable because of how long Berkshire stayed in a defensive mode. For 14 consecutive quarters, the company had been selling more equities than it purchased, and its Q1 buyback total was only $235 million. In Q2, that changed: the buyback jumped to $4.5 billion, and net equity purchases reached nearly $20 billion.
The cash pile still stands at $365.5 billion, so Berkshire retains enormous firepower. But the latest numbers suggest Abel is willing to pull the trigger when he sees value, while still stopping short of emptying the fortress all at once. Investors will be watching whether this quarter marks the beginning of a more aggressive deployment of Berkshire's cash pile, or whether the pace will stay uneven as Abel calibrates valuations.
For now, the second-quarter numbers make the strategy clear: Abel has stopped merely guarding Buffett's enormous cash reserve and has started deploying it.
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