Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway on Thursday announced it has resumed repurchasing its own shares for the first time since 2024. The Omaha-based conglomerate disclosed in a regulatory filing that it began buying back its Class A and Class B shares on Wednesday.
Berkshire’s stated policy allows the company to repurchase stock whenever the chief executive, after consultation with the chairman of the board Warren Buffett, believes that the repurchase price is below Berkshire’s intrinsic value.
The last time Berkshire repurchased shares was the second quarter of 2024, and some investors since then have been clamoring for the company to deploy its $373.3 billion cash hoard in some way.
CEO, Greg Abel said normally the company wouldn’t disclose the start of the repurchases. “We felt it was important to communicate to our shareholders, our partners, our owners, with the transition of leadership,” Abel, who took over for Buffett at the start of January, said.
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Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO, Greg Abel separately purchased $15 million worth of stock himself, an amount equal to his after-tax annual salary. Abel told CNBC he will continue using his full salary amount to purchase Berkshire shares every year.
“I absolutely talked to Warren, So how I approached it was, obviously looking at the value, having a view of intrinsic value [and then] consulted with Warren relative to the value and the timing.” Abel told CNBC on Thursday
Shares of Berkshire have fallen 3% this year and 10% from their record high last May. The stock came under pressure earlier this week after the firm reported a near 30% decline in its operating earnings for the fourth quarter, due in large part to weakness in the insurance business.
