If only Warren Buffett were around to see this…

Reports of Oracle's investment strategy being dead have been greatly exaggerated.

Chip stocks have cratered 30% in a month, tech is trading at a discount to the S&P for the first time since 2017, and the same FinTwit geniuses who called Buffett washed are now comparing margin calls.

Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway is somehow having the time of its life.

Shares are up 12% in a month, and Greg Abel just spent $9.6 BILLION buying back stock.

Turns out the old man's Dairy Queen-and-railroads investment strategy still has some juice left.

Berkshire Hathaway announced Saturday that it repurchased $9.6 BILLION worth of its own shares during the third quarter, more than DOUBLE the $4.5 billion it spent in Q2.

That brings total buybacks for 2026 to approximately $14.4 billion.

And boy, does the GEICO gecko have some explaining to do.

Because while Greg Abel has been buying back shares like there's no tomorrow, Berkshire's earnings have apparently been getting hauled away in a different kind of truck. One with flashing red lights.

Call an ambulance. But not for me! For me!

The conglomerate reported third-quarter operating earnings of $12.7 BILLION, down 5.8% from $13.5 billion a year earlier.

And the insurance business was the primary culprit.

Insurance underwriting profits damped a rather unpleasant 43% to $1.35 billion, while insurance investment income fell 14% to $2.73 billion.

15 minutes could save you 15%. Unfortunately, 90 days just cost Warren 43%. 

Meanwhile, Berkshire's overall net earnings dropped 28% to $22.1 billion, as investment gains from its enormous stock portfolio were nearly cut in HALF to $9.4 billion.

Fortunately, the company's railroad, energy, and manufacturing businesses all managed to grow their profits.

So Greg Abel won't have to start driving for Uber just yet.

Especially when you consider the truly absurd amount of money Berkshire still has sitting in the bank.

$377.4 BILLION.

That's how much cash and short-term investments they reported at the end of September, up from $365.5 billion the previous quarter.

Now, there is a catch: Excluding railroad and utility cash along with Treasury bill payables, its adjusted cash holdings actually slipped 1.9% to $352.3 billion.

That's enough cash to theoretically buy more than 1% of America's entire publicly held national debt. (Our kids might actually be cooked).

Anyways, investors have been rewarding Berkshire's old-school approach.

While the S&P 500 has shed 5.5% over the past month amid a disgusting rotation out of technology stocks, Berkshire's Class A shares have edged out more than 12%.

Year to date, Berkshire is up 13%, compared with the S&P 500's 7.8% gain.

Speaking of which, Berkshire's five largest stock holdings remained unchanged during the quarter: Alphabet, American Express, Apple, Bank of America, and Coca-Cola.

Translation: no dramatic portfolio overhaul… or sudden pivot into YOLO’ing into private Anthropic shares.

Of course, Berkshire's declining insurance profits are worth watching, and spending $9.6 billion repurchasing shares doesn't automatically make them a bargain.

But if Greg Abel hasn't already earned the trust of Warren Buffett's most devoted followers, he's certainly making a strong case. 

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Alphabet, Apple, and Coca-Cola as mentioned in the article.