OMAHA, Neb. — Berkshire Hathaway’s enormous cash reserve is beginning to shrink under new chief executive Greg Abel, signaling a potentially significant shift in investment strategy at the conglomerate long led by Warren Buffett.

Berkshire reported Saturday that it held $365.5 billion in cash and Treasury bills at the end of June, down from $397.4 billion at the end of March. Excluding Treasury payables, the company’s cash and short-term government securities fell from roughly $380 billion to $365 billion during the quarter — the clearest sign yet that Abel, who formally succeeded Buffett as CEO at the start of this year, is beginning to put the company’s vast financial reserves to work.

A renewed pace of buybacks and stock purchases

During the April-to-June quarter, Berkshire repurchased approximately $4.5 billion of its own shares, and continued that pace into July with more than $3.3 billion in additional buybacks. The company had resumed share repurchases in March following an almost two-year pause.

Berkshire also made a notable shift in its broader investment activity, purchasing nearly $20 billion more in stocks than it sold during the quarter. According to Yahoo Finance’s reporting on the results, Berkshire bought $23.5 billion in stocks while selling only $3.7 billion — ending a streak of 14 consecutive quarters in which the company had been a net seller of equities. The last time Berkshire had a larger net outlay on stocks was in the first quarter of 2022.

Among the notable purchases was an additional $10 billion investment in Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, which has made Alphabet one of Berkshire’s largest equity holdings, alongside long-standing positions in Apple, Coca-Cola, American Express and Bank of America.

Strong operating results beat expectations

Berkshire’s underlying business performance was also stronger than expected. Quarterly operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion, exceeding analysts’ forecasts. Improved results at BNSF, the company’s railroad operation, along with service businesses such as NetJets and TTI, helped offset weaker performance at Geico, Berkshire’s auto insurance unit.

Net income surged to $25.6 billion, more than double the $12.3 billion reported during the same period a year earlier. Revenue also improved, rising 10% to $101.81 billion following a period of stagnation.

Abel signals a philosophy of disciplined but active investing

Abel, who formally assumed the CEO role in January, laid out his approach to capital allocation in his first letter to shareholders in February. According to Yahoo Finance, Abel wrote that Berkshire pursues opportunities where the reward matches the risk, pledging continuity with Buffett’s signature approach of disciplined capital allocation while pushing back on the notion that the company’s substantial cash position signaled hesitancy.

“Many times in Berkshire’s history, some observers have suggested that our substantial cash position signals a retreat from investing. It does not,” Abel wrote in that letter, according to CNBC’s coverage. “We continue to evaluate many opportunities and will remain patient and disciplined in pursuing the right ones for the benefit of our owners.”

Abel also described Berkshire’s balance sheet in strategic terms, framing the company’s liquidity as a source of flexibility rather than caution. According to Barchart’s reporting on the letter, Abel wrote, “Our balance sheet is a strategic asset to be deployed at the right time. It allows us to act decisively, invest when others are tentative or fearful, and stand firm when financial storms roll through.”

Caution alongside the deployment

Despite the more active investment posture, Berkshire cautioned shareholders that substantial uncertainty remains surrounding the global economic and geopolitical environment. The company pointed to factors including tariffs and ongoing wars, while also flagging weaker demand across several consumer-facing businesses.

Berkshire said changing consumer confidence was affecting operations including its network of 103 car and truck dealerships, its Fruit of the Loom apparel business, and its Forest River recreational vehicle operations — a reminder that even as Berkshire deploys more capital into equities, some of its underlying operating businesses continue to face softer demand conditions.

A notable acquisition completed during the quarter

Beyond its stock purchases, Berkshire also completed its acquisition of Taylor Morrison Home Corporation on July 24, though the company did not disclose the transaction’s valuation in its earnings report.

The second quarterly report under new leadership

Saturday’s results mark the second quarterly report since Abel took over as CEO, succeeding Buffett, who continues to serve as Berkshire’s chairman. The company’s shrinking cash hoard represents a notable change for a business that had accumulated enormous reserves during the final years of Buffett’s leadership, a period in which Buffett developed a reputation for patiently holding cash until sufficiently attractive investment opportunities emerged.

What it signals going forward

Berkshire’s recent buying activity suggests that under Abel, the conglomerate may be increasingly willing to put its vast resources to work when management identifies compelling opportunities — a meaningful, if measured, departure from the extended cash accumulation that characterized much of Buffett’s final years at the helm. Whether this pace of deployment continues in coming quarters will likely serve as an early test of how closely Abel’s investment philosophy tracks with, or diverges from, that of his predecessor.

A sourcing note: all direct quotes above from Greg Abel are confirmed and on the record via his February shareholder letter, as reported by CNBC, Yahoo Finance and Barchart’s coverage of that letter. Financial figures for the quarter are drawn directly from Berkshire’s own earnings disclosure, as reported by Mint.

Global oil prices remained volatile heading into the weekend, trading well below recent highs as investors weighed conflicting signals from Iran and the United States over a potential agreement to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.

West Texas Intermediate futures opened at $78.31 a barrel on Aug. 7, according to Forbes Advisor, while Brent crude opened at $83.49 a barrel that same day. As of Sunday, live pricing data from PriceOfOil.com showed both benchmarks continuing to trade in that general range, with Brent hovering near $83 and WTI near $78, according to tracking from Trading Economics and Oilprice.com.

A market still reacting to the Hormuz standoff

Brent crude has swung sharply in recent sessions as traders try to gauge the likelihood of a breakthrough in talks between Iran and Oman over managing navigation through the strait. According to Trading Economics, Brent traded below $82 a barrel on Friday, moving between gains and losses throughout the session as investors weighed the state of those negotiations.

Optimism over a potential partial reopening of the waterway faded after reports that Iran was seeking to exclude U.S. and Israeli vessels from the strait entirely and impose fees on countries it considers hostile — terms that stand in sharp contrast to Washington’s push for unrestricted transit and a full return to pre-war shipping conditions. President Donald Trump has maintained an optimistic public tone throughout the negotiations, saying the broader conflict could end “pretty soon” and that discussions were progressing, according to Trading Economics’ market coverage.

Adding to the uncertainty, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. reported attacks on multiple vessels transiting the strait, with Iran reportedly targeting ships it considers hostile even as diplomatic talks continued. Iran-backed Houthi militants separately claimed a large-scale attack against Saudi-aligned forces in Yemen, further complicating the security picture across the broader region.

A proposed Iranian framework worries markets

Trading Economics reported that Iran has proposed penalties equal to 20% of a vessel’s cargo value for violations of its terms, while insisting the strait would only be fully reopened once the U.S. maritime blockade of Iran is lifted. That draft proposal, outlining stricter conditions for commercial shipping than markets had anticipated, remains under review by the Iranian parliament.

Oil briefly reversed some gains in post-settlement trading last week following reports that the U.S. could lift its naval blockade once commercial shipping through the strait resumes without restrictions — a potential off-ramp that traders continue to watch closely for signs of a genuine breakthrough.

Prices well off their April peak, despite the conflict

Even with the ongoing disruption, oil prices remain considerably below levels seen earlier this year. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook, published July 7, the Brent crude spot price averaged $85 a barrel in June, down $22 a barrel from May and $32 a barrel from its recent April 2026 peak.

The EIA’s forecast, issued before the current wave of Hormuz-related volatility intensified, projected Brent averaging $74 a barrel in the third quarter of 2026 — a $27-a-barrel reduction from the agency’s prior monthly outlook at the time — citing expectations of ongoing oil inventory accumulation that would continue pressuring prices lower. The agency’s outlook had assumed that a June 18 memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran to end the conflict and reopen the strait would hold, projecting most crude oil production would return to near pre-conflict averages by the end of the year. Given the subsequent breakdown in that agreement and the renewed attacks on shipping, market conditions have shifted meaningfully since that forecast was published, and the EIA’s next outlook, due Aug. 11, is likely to reflect the changed picture.

What it means at the pump

Lower crude prices earlier in the summer had been expected to translate into cheaper gasoline for American drivers. The EIA’s July forecast projected U.S. gasoline prices averaging $3.80 a gallon in the third quarter, down from more than $4.20 a gallon in the second quarter, though the agency cautioned that a portion of the crude-driven savings could be offset by rising wholesale and retail margins tied to low gasoline inventories.

Broader market ripple effects

The prolonged uncertainty over Middle East energy supply has also influenced other markets. According to Oilprice.com’s broader coverage, lower oil prices in recent weeks have helped boost gold, as easing inflation concerns and softer U.S. economic data reduce expectations for further Federal Reserve policy tightening. Separately, some governments have leaned more heavily on coal in the short term while accelerating investments in renewable energy, as the ongoing Middle East conflict tightens global liquefied natural gas markets and raises broader concerns about energy security.

Looking ahead

With Iran’s parliament still reviewing its proposed shipping framework and no finalized agreement between Tehran and Washington in place, analysts expect oil prices to remain highly sensitive to any fresh developments out of the Strait of Hormuz talks in the days ahead. Traders are likely to continue closely tracking statements from Iranian officials, the Trump administration, and Gulf shipping authorities for signs of whether a genuine de-escalation — or a further breakdown — is more likely in the near term.

Users of the film social network Letterboxd began reporting access problems Sunday morning, with outage-tracking service Downdetector logging complaints starting at 9:14 a.m. EDT and the hashtag #LetterboxdDown gaining traction on social media as frustrated users sought answers.

Downdetector, which aggregates real-time user reports to flag potential service outages, posted about the issue on X, asking users how the disruption was affecting them and linking to its live outage tracker for the platform.

What users are experiencing

Reports collected across multiple outage-monitoring services point to sign-in and login issues as the primary complaint among affected users. According to StatusGator, which monitors service health using a combination of issue reports, page visits and signal strength, the platform showed signs of a possible outage detected around 1:05 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, with the specific issue identified as “sign-in issues after unexpected logouts.”

Separately, outage-tracking site UpDownRadar collected numerous firsthand complaints from users across multiple countries describing difficulty accessing the service. Reports came in from locations including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Philippines and the United States, with users describing being unable to log in on both the Letterboxd website and its mobile app. One user’s comment, relayed through the tracker, described the outage lasting “like 3 hours,” while another described receiving an “internal server issue” message when attempting to load features like their watchlist or friends’ reviews.

A history of intermittent outages

Sunday’s disruption is not the first time Letterboxd has experienced service issues. According to StatusGator’s tracked incident history, the platform has faced several previous outages and login problems throughout 2026, including a reported service outage lasting just over three hours in May and separate login and page-loading issues in March and February. The platform has also experienced connectivity issues tied to third-party infrastructure providers in the past, though it was not immediately clear Sunday whether a similar underlying cause was responsible for the latest reports.

Mixed signals from automated monitors

Not all outage-tracking services detected the same severity of disruption. Automated monitoring service UptimeRobot reported that its most recent automated check, run at 1:02 p.m. GMT Sunday from North America, did not detect any unusual response times or error codes from Letterboxd’s servers. Similarly, status-tracking site Entireweb reported that Letterboxd was “operating normally” as of Sunday, citing 15 user reports over the previous 24 hours but none in the hour immediately preceding its check.

The discrepancy between automated uptime checks and user-submitted reports is common during intermittent or regionally concentrated outages, where a service’s core infrastructure may remain technically online even as specific features — such as user authentication or login sessions — experience disruptions for a subset of users.

About Letterboxd

Letterboxd functions as a combined movie database, personal film journal and social network, allowing its reported 17 million worldwide users to rate films on a five-star scale, write reviews, tag movies with relevant keywords, and maintain lists of films watched or planned to watch, according to Wikipedia’s overview of the platform. The service allows anyone to browse content without an account, though creating a profile is required to rate, review or otherwise interact with the platform’s social features.

The platform has faced security issues in the past as well. In March 2024, Letterboxd disclosed that it had suffered a data breach the previous month after a staff account was compromised, though the company said at the time that the breach affected “significantly less than 1% of all accounts,” according to Wikipedia.

What to do if you’re affected

For users currently experiencing issues, general troubleshooting steps recommended by outage-tracking services include trying to access the platform from a different browser, device or network — such as switching to a mobile hotspot — as well as clearing your device’s DNS cache, disabling any active VPN connection, or restarting your router. If the platform loads normally through an alternate connection, the issue is likely isolated to the original network rather than reflecting a broader, confirmed outage affecting all users.

As of this writing, Letterboxd had not issued an official public statement acknowledging the outage or providing a timeline for full resolution. The situation remains fluid, and Downdetector’s live tracker continues to log new user reports as they come in.