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Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) stock: Greg Abel puts $20 billion to work - here's what he bought. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) stock rises as Greg Abel deploys $20B in equities and buybacks, cutting the cash pile for the first time in four years. By Trader Edge August 10, 2026 3 Mins Read Tldr. * Berkshire's cash pile dropped to $364.7 billion, down 4% from its record high of $397.4 billion * Berkshire became a net stock buyer for the first time in 14 quarters, with $20 billion net equity purchases * $10 billion went into Alphabet and $6.8 billion into Taylor Morrison Home * Berkshire repurchased $4.5 billion of its own stock in Q2, plus another $3.3 billion in July * Operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion, though GEICO underwriting profits fell 45% Greg Abel's second quarter as Berkshire Hathaway CEO sent a clear message: the waiting is over. Berkshire ended June with $364.7 billion in cash and Treasury bills. That sounds like a lot, and it is. But it marks the first decline in four years, down from a record $397.4 billion in March. The drop came from real spending. Berkshire bought $23.5 billion in equities and sold $3.7 billion, making it a net buyer for the first time in 14 quarters. Its largest net equity outlay since early 2022. That $20 billion net purchase included $10 billion more invested in Alphabet. Berkshire also completed its $6.8 billion acquisition of Taylor Morrison Home during the quarter. Abel's first shareholder letter as CEO stressed patience and discipline. The Q2 numbers suggest he also means action when the price is right. CFRA analyst Cathy Seifert told Reuters that Abel was "slowly, gradually and subtly" asserting himself as Berkshire's new leader. Buybacks signal confidence in Berkshire's own value. One of the loudest signals from the quarter was Berkshire buying itself. The company spent $4.5 billion on buybacks in Q2, a dramatic jump from just $235 million in Q1. Berkshire's policy only allows repurchases when Abel, consulting with Buffett, believes the stock trades below intrinsic value. Berkshire then spent another $3.3 billion in July, bringing total buybacks since April to nearly $8 billion. Gabelli Funds portfolio manager Macrae Sykes told CNBC the buybacks showed management saw "good value for money" in their own stock. Barclays had estimated Q2 buybacks in the $5 to $11 billion range. UBS forecast $8.5 billion. The $4.5 billion came in below both, but still dwarfed Q1. Operating earnings mostly strong, GEICO a weak spot. Operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion for the quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Energy jumped 27%. BNSF Railway gained 6%. Manufacturing, service and retail earnings climbed 24% to nearly $4.5 billion. Insurance was the soft spot. Underwriting earnings fell 13% and insurance investment income dropped 9%. GEICO took the hardest hit, with underwriting profits down 45%. After stripping out favorable currency moves, operating earnings grew closer to 6%, according to market data. Berkshire also trimmed its DaVita position just before the dialysis company's stock dropped 23% following a weak Q2 earnings report. The sale was not discretionary. Under a 2024 agreement, DaVita is required to buy back enough Berkshire-held stock each quarter to keep Berkshire's stake at or below 45%. The trim involved just under 183,000 shares, worth $36.5 million at roughly $200 per share based on volume-weighted average pricing. Berkshire's full Q2 portfolio snapshot, which will detail all equity buys and sells, is expected in the coming week.6 Stop guessing and start investing with confidence. KnockoutStocks gives you the AI insights, market intelligence, and stock research you need to spot opportunities, cut through the noise, and make smarter investment decisions - all in one powerful platform. Simply use coupon code SPECIAL50 at checkout to claim your exclusive discount. Limited Time Offer Get 3 free stock ebooks. Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis. * Top 10 AI Stocks - Leading AI companies * Top 10 Crypto Stocks - Blockchain leaders * Top 10 Tech Stocks - Tech giants

Tarrant jury awards $39M to Good Samaritan who lost legs in crash on Texas 121. Updated May 20, 2026 6:03 PM Gift Article A Tarrant County jury returned a $39 million verdict last week in a civil case over a car crash that ended with a Good Samaritan losing both of his legs, according to court documents. The plaintiff, David Vaughn, was driving along Texas Highway 121 in Hurst on the night of Aug. 26, 2022, when he found an SUV stopped in his lane of travel, according to the lawsuit. Vaughn steered to avoid the SUV, but clipped the back corner before stopping in front of the vehicle to offer assistance to the driver, Theresa Arrington, the suit stated. After Vaughn got out of his car, a Nissan Sentra driven by another defendant, Bamwesige Kisuuli, entered the scene at a high rate of speed, according to the suit. Kisuuli swerved, over-corrected and lost control of his car as he tried to avoid hitting Arrington's SUV, the suit stated. As a result, Vaughn was struck and pinned between the back bumper of his vehicle and the front bumper of Kisuuli's Nissan Sentra, according to the suit. The impact ripped Vaughn's left leg off, and damaged his right leg to an extent that it was later amputated at the hospital. Kisuuli was intoxicated while speeding in the Sentra, attorneys wrote in the suit. Kisuuli was arrested on a charge of intoxication assault with a vehicle, but a grand jury declined to indict him and the criminal case was dismissed, according to court records. The lawsuit alleged that Arrington was negligent in choosing not to move her car out of the lanes of oncoming traffic, that Kisuuli was negligent in failing to drive sober and adequately control the car. Since the time of the crash, Vaughn has lived with chronic pain and phantom limb pain as well as nerve damage, his attorney, Brian Butcher, said. "The evidence showed that the driver of the car that stalled had ample opportunity to get to a safe place on the shoulder, but chose to come to a rest on the highway," Butcher said. "After she made that decision, the danger was compounded by the fact that instead of calling for emergency help, she chose to sit on the highway for as much as 30 minutes waiting for a friend to get there." The jury's verdict found that both of the defendants shared some of the responsibility for Vaughn's injuries. Attorneys for the defendants could not immediately be reached for comment. Butcher, an attorney with the Fort Worth-area Noteboom Law Firm, will pursue a separate lawsuit against Geico, which provided insurance for the defendants, in an effort to get the insurer to pay the money the jury awarded as damages in the case, he said. "He feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off his shoulders," Butcher said of his client. "The lawsuit has added agony on top of agony for several years." Butcher described his client as "the type of person who would give the shirt off his back to help somebody." "I have no doubt that at the time he was injured, he was trying to help somebody that he saw was exposed to tremendous danger," Butcher said. This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 5:56 PM. May 20, 2026 4:44 PM Fort Worth May 20, 2026 12:03 PM Fort Worth Star-Telegram Lillie Davidson is a breaking news reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She graduated from TCU in 2025 with a bachelor's degree in journalism, is fluent in Spanish, and can complete a crossword in five minutes.