Berkshire Hathaway’s leadership transition is complete, and every revenue-focused shareholder is watching Greg Abel’s first steps toward the company’s record cash hoard.
According to CNBC, Buffett resigned as chairman on September 18, 2026, handing the position to his son Howard and leaving it to CEO Greg Abel.
Abell inherited $365.5 billion in cash and Treasury bills as of June 2026, an amount large enough to directly fund several Fortune 500 acquisitions, the company’s Form 10-Q shows.
The cash hoard has prompted growing calls from shareholders who see the leadership change as the moment Berkshire starts paying dividends. Abel’s second-quarter spending now provides the clearest view yet of the direction the new leader plans to steer.
Abel’s second-quarter payout shows Berkshire’s cash flow
According to CNBC, Berkshire repurchased about $4.5 billion in shares in the second quarter, up from $235 million in the first quarter, and added about $3.3 billion in repurchases in July 2026.
According to CNBC, the company announced on June 1, 2026 that it would invest US$10 billion in Alphabet through private placements, which was one of the largest single equity investments in Berkshire’s history.
Macrae Sykes, portfolio manager at Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB), told Reuters that the acceleration in buybacks reflects management’s belief that Berkshire shares are significantly undervalued, noting that the pace of buybacks is evidence that leadership believes there is room for strong upside in the stock’s current trading range.
Warren and Greg are excellent investors, and their share repurchases give me confidence in the current value of Berkshire stock and future growth in intrinsic value.
Berkshire Hathaway’s quarterly filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed cash reserves fell to $365.5 billion from a record $397.4 billion between March and June 2026.
None of the capital was used to distribute shareholder dividends, reinforcing the buyback and acquisition priorities Abel outlined in his February letter to shareholders.
Berkshire’s 59-year dividend stance now hinges on Abel’s deployment record
Berkshire Hathaway has paid a dividend only once since Buffett took control in 1965, a 10-cent payment in 1967, a decision Buffett later joked he “must have made in the bathroom.”
The 2024 annual shareholder letter shows that Buffett’s compound annual return from 1965 to 2024 was 19.7%, making it almost impossible for shareholders to challenge the rationale for withholding earnings.
The S&P 500 has returned 10.4% over the same period, a compounding gap that has long justified keeping profits within companies. Under Abel, the case now hinges on the results of his deployment rather than the records Buffett has compiled over six years.
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Abel wrote in his 2025 annual shareholder letter that Berkshire will avoid paying a dividend and the dollars retained will create more than a dollar of value. The board reviews its dividend policy annually but has given no indication that it plans to start making regular payments to shareholders.
Cash dividends have a structural tax disadvantage because distributions are fully taxable, whereas buybacks are only taxable when the shareholder sells. For companies whose last payment to shareholders was in 1967, this penalty makes a switch to regular distributions less likely.
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Berkshire stock performance puts pressure on Abel’s capital strategy
Cathy Seifert, CFRA’s senior vice president of research, described Abel’s early tenure as a gradual assertion of authority and said the quarterly results were strong, according to Reuters.
According to CNBC, Berkshire’s stock price rose only 1% in 2026, far behind the S&P 500 index’s increase of more than 11%.
This performance gap complicates Abel’s rationale for withholding earnings because Berkshire shares are not delivering the returns needed to justify its no-dividend policy.
MarketScreener shows that Brian Meredith, managing director of UBS, raised his price target on Berkshire’s Class A shares to $906,011 and gave it a buy rating.
Abel Season 2 Scorecard at a Glance
The headline numbers in Berkshire’s second-quarter report highlight the scale of capital Abel now has to deal with, and the returns he needs to maintain without factoring in dividends.
- Net profit was $25.67 billion, more than double the $12.37 billion in the same period last year, according to Berkshire Hathaway’s quarterly report.
- CNBC confirmed that Alphabet ranks among Berkshire’s top five holdings by market capitalization, joining Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Bank of America
- Documents show operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion, with Berkshire Hathaway Energy growing 27% and BNSF Railroad growing 6%
How analysts interpret Abel’s early-stage capital strategy
Abel showed with his pledge and second-quarter spending that Berkshire’s top priority remains internally deploying earnings rather than distributing cash to shareholders.
Meredith’s bullish price target suggests that at least some analysts see enough upside from the current approach to justify patience from income-seeking shareholders.
Seifert described Abel’s leadership as cautious and thoughtful, suggesting any shift in dividend policy would unfold slowly and with ample advance signaling.
The assessment, which points to the pace at which Berkshire’s cash reserves are declining, signals Abel’s direction more clearly than any formal board announcement.
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