Warren Buffett and Greg Abel Spent $78 Billion Buying This Stock Since 2018 -- That's More Than Was Spent Buying Apple, Chevron, Bank of America, and Occidental Petroleum, Combined!

Berkshire Hathaway has repurchased approximately $78.0B of its own stock since mid-July 2018, reducing outstanding shares by 12.6% and likely boosting EPS and shareholder returns. Warren Buffett retired as CEO on Dec. 31 and Greg Abel has continued the buyback strategy, with an 8-K on March 5, 2026 disclosing ~ $225M spent on Class A shares after a 21-month pause. The July 17, 2018 board rule change (allowing repurchases with ≥ $30B in cash equivalents and managerial approval of intrinsic cheapness) enabled 24 consecutive quarters of buybacks through June 2024 and underpins ongoing capital-return flexibility.

Analysis

The board’s liberalized repurchase authority effectively turns Berkshire into a repeat buyer-of-last-resort for its own equity, which changes capital allocation incentives across the firm’s operating units: managers now face a higher hurdle to recommend growth investments versus returning capital via buybacks because internal deployment must exceed a predictable bid from repurchases. That dynamic favors businesses with low marginal capital needs (e.g., mature insurance float and certain public equities exposures) and makes transformational acquisitions less likely unless price dislocations are large enough to overcome the buyback opportunity cost.

A continuing cadence of repurchases will mechanically tighten float and magnify per-share metrics, but it also concentrates risk in Berkshire’s listed security — reducing available free float can increase liquidity premia and make short squeezes or index-rebalancing flows more impactful. In stress scenarios (credit shock, underwriting losses, or a sharp asset-price drawdown) the repurchase lever is one of the management tools most likely to be reversed, creating path-dependent valuation volatility where EPS and book-value guidance may decouple from economic performance for extended periods.

For investors, the relevant question is not whether buybacks will occur but whether their marginal return exceeds alternative uses such as bolt-on M&A or larger public-equity purchases; if repurchases become the default, long-term ROIC improvement depends on strict discipline at the per-share price level. Governance and signaling effects matter: continued buybacks under new leadership reduce option value for activists but raise the bar for external capital deployment — watch cash buffers, underwriting margins, and realized gains/losses for early evidence that buybacks are crowding out value-enhancing investments.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Long BRKB (or BRKA via ADR) — buy on <5% pullbacks, 12-month horizon. Rationale: expect continued repurchase support to act as a valuation floor and EPS kicker; target +20-30% total return if operating results hold. Risk: severe market/insurance shock could compress book value; set stop-loss at -25%.
• Buy 9–12 month BRKB 1:1 covered-call collar for income preservation — buy 1000 shares BRKB, sell 1,000 12-month OTM calls (strike ~+20%) and buy 1,000 12-month OTM puts (strike ~-20%). Rationale: captures buyback-supported upside while capping downside in a stress scenario; cost roughly neutral to small debit depending on implied vol.
• Pair trade: long BRKB / short broad financial ETF (e.g., KBE) — 6–12 month horizon. Rationale: isolates buyback-specific support versus sector cyclicality; expected payoff if repurchases continue and financials lag in a risk-off. Risk: systemic bank rally or sector outperformance will hurt the short leg; hedge sizing to beta-neutralize.
• Event hedge: buy BRKB protective puts 3–6 months out if signs of underwriting deterioration appear (rising combined ratio, reserve development). Rationale: cheap insurance against quick reversal of buyback policy; acceptable cost as insurance vs concentrated exposure from ongoing repurchases.