Berkshire Hathaway spent a net $41 billion in stocks

Warren Buffett led Berkshire Hathaway, in the first quarter, slowed down its share buybacks but on the other hand increased its stock purchases, thus eventually reducing its cash reserves. Berkshire Hathaway spent around $3.2 billion on buybacks in the first quarter, compared to more than $6 billion in each of the previous five quarters. This eventually marked Berkshire Hathaway’s slowest outlay since the first quarter of 2020. However, on the other hand, the company spent a net $41 billion on purchasing equities. The Buffet-led company purchased t $51 billion worth and sold less than $10 billion worth in the same time period. In contrast, Berkshire was a net seller of stocks in both 2020 and 2021.

The rise in spending in the last quarter eventually accelerated a decline in Berkshire's cash reserve from $147 billion to $106 billion, marking a fall of  28%. Berkshire Hathaway reported steep increases in the cost bases of its financial stocks and commercial and industrial holdings, indicating its purchases were focused on the above sectors. The company revealed that at the end of March, it held Chevron stock worth $26 billion, compared to $4.5 billion worth three months earlier.