Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) is heading into a rare, market-moving moment: the end of Warren Buffett’s six-decade run as chief executive and the start of the Greg Abel era on January 1, 2026. The stock story right now isn’t just “What’s BRK.B trading at?”—it’s “What does Berkshire look like when the most famous allocator of capital in modern finance stops being the allocator-in-chief?”
As of the most recent close (Dec. 19, 2025), Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares closed at $494.53, down 1.76% on the day, with after-hours trading near $497.20. [1]
Below is a comprehensive look at the major news, forecasts, and analyses shaping Berkshire Hathaway stock as of December 20, 2025—covering leadership upheaval, capital allocation questions, portfolio moves, earnings context, valuation, and what investors are watching next.
Why Berkshire Hathaway stock is in the spotlight right now
The CEO transition is no longer theoretical
Berkshire confirmed that Greg Abel will assume the role of President and CEO on January 1, 2026, while Buffett remains chairman. [2]
That change is the anchor narrative around BRK.B today—and it’s not just symbolic. Reuters’ recent reporting frames the shift as a moment when investors must reckon with a “halo effect” (and potential “Buffett premium”) fading from the stock’s valuation over time. [3]
Berkshire’s December leadership reshuffle: a “pre-Abel” re-architecture
In early December, Berkshire announced a set of leadership appointments spanning insurance, non-insurance operations, finance, and legal—moves widely interpreted as Abel putting more structure around a conglomerate famously run with a minimalist headquarters. [4]
Key points from Berkshire’s announcement:
- Adam M. Johnson (NetJets CEO) was appointed President of Berkshire’s Consumer Products, Service and Retailing businesses, effective immediately, while remaining NetJets CEO. [5]
- Nancy L. Pierce was appointed CEO of GEICO, effective immediately. [6]
- Todd A. Combs will conclude his tenure at Berkshire and join JPMorgan Chase & Co., where Berkshire noted he has served as a board director since 2016. Buffett praised Combs’ GEICO tenure in the release. [7]
- Longtime CFO Marc D. Hamburg will retire June 1, 2027; Charles C. Chang will succeed him as Senior Vice President and CFO effective June 1, 2026. [8]
- Berkshire created a new General Counsel role for the first time and appointed Michael J. O’Sullivan as Senior Vice President and General Counsel effective January 1, 2026. [9]
Reuters characterized the changes as a significant shake-up weeks before the CEO handover, with Abel “making his mark” ahead of taking the reins. [10]
The Todd Combs exit adds a fresh question mark over Berkshire’s investing bench
Todd Combs wasn’t just a senior name—he was one of Berkshire’s two investment managers besides Buffett, and he was also running GEICO before the leadership changes. [11]
Combs is leaving to take a major role at JPMorgan tied to its “security and resiliency initiative,” described by Reuters as a $1.5 trillion, decade-long plan, including commitments of up to $10 billion in direct equity and venture capital investments for selected U.S. companies in sectors such as defense, aerospace, healthcare, and energy. [12]
Why this matters for BRK.B shareholders:
- The post-Buffett investment decision process is still being digested by the market.
- The Associated Press reported analysts’ open questions about the future roles of Ted Weschler (Berkshire’s other investment manager) and Ajit Jain (insurance vice chairman), and noted uncertainty around how Abel will handle Berkshire’s stock portfolio—reported as worth more than $300 billion. [13]
- Reuters similarly emphasized that leadership succession isn’t only about the CEO title; it’s also about who makes the final calls on capital allocation and investments in a Berkshire that now holds enormous cash and a massive equity book. [14]
Berkshire’s cash pile is at record levels—and buybacks remain paused
A record $381.7 billion in cash and equivalents
One of the most important fundamentals shaping Berkshire Hathaway stock going into 2026 is the sheer scale of its liquidity.
Reuters reported that Berkshire’s cash swelled to a record $381.7 billion as the company remained cautious about markets, even as profit rose. [15]
Net seller of stocks for 12 straight quarters
Berkshire has been trimming and rotating rather than aggressively adding risk. Reuters reported that Berkshire sold more stocks than it bought for a 12th straight quarter (for its equity portfolio reported around $283.2 billion). [16]
No share repurchases for multiple quarters
Another signal: Berkshire has not been buying back its own shares recently. Reuters reported the company did not repurchase stock for a fifth straight quarter as of its early November report. [17]
For investors, this becomes a neat little tell: when Berkshire isn’t buying back Berkshire, it’s often because management doesn’t see the stock as sufficiently undervalued versus their view of intrinsic value (or they prefer to keep flexibility for deals).
The market’s favorite question: what will Abel do with all that cash?
Reuters explicitly raised the possibility that Berkshire’s options could include a dividend—something Berkshire hasn’t paid since 1967—and reported ongoing investor debate about a more “traditional corporate path” post-Buffett. [18]
That doesn’t mean Berkshire will start cutting checks like a utility tomorrow, but it does underline the pressure: at Berkshire’s current size, capital deployment is both the biggest advantage and the hardest problem.
Portfolio shifts: Alphabet stake, Apple trimming, and Bank of America sales
Berkshire’s investment portfolio matters to BRK.B because, in practice, shareholders own a hybrid: an operating-business empire plus a gigantic, actively managed equity portfolio.
In a November SEC filing recap, Reuters highlighted several notable moves:
- Berkshire revealed a $4.3 billion stake in Alphabet (Google’s parent), reporting 17.85 million shares as of Sept. 30, 2025. [19]
- Berkshire reduced its Apple stake to 238.2 million shares from 280 million in the third quarter and has sold nearly three-quarters of the more than 900 million shares it once held. Apple remained Berkshire’s largest stock holding at $60.7 billion (as reported by Reuters). [20]
- Berkshire sold 6% of its Bank of America position, extending a selling streak that began in the prior year’s third quarter, while still keeping the bank as its third-largest stock holding. [21]
- Reuters also noted Berkshire shed DR Horton and bought more shares in several companies including Chubb and Domino’s Pizza. [22]
For Berkshire Hathaway stock watchers, the “Apple trimming + Alphabet entry” combo is especially attention-grabbing, because it touches the oldest Buffett debate in a new form: Berkshire may dislike “tech” as a category, but it likes dominant businesses with durable economics—and those increasingly live in the tech-adjacent world.
Earnings and operations: what the latest results say about Berkshire’s engine room
Berkshire’s Q3 2025 report showed a big year-over-year jump in operating earnings, which is the metric Buffett has historically emphasized more than GAAP net income (because market swings can whipsaw reported investment gains/losses).
In its third-quarter release, Berkshire reported:
- Operating earnings of $13.485 billion for Q3 2025, up from $10.090 billion in Q3 2024. [23]
- Net earnings attributable to Berkshire shareholders of $30.796 billion for Q3 2025 (versus $26.251 billion in Q3 2024). [24]
- Insurance “float” (funds held from premiums before claims are paid) of $176 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025. [25]
Reuters attributed the stronger quarter in part to lower insurance losses, and noted how catastrophes (or the lack of them) can meaningfully swing underwriting results. [26]
Operationally, investors continue to treat Berkshire as a kind of “American economy sampler pack”: insurance, rail, energy, industrials, retail, and services all under one roof. That diversity is a feature—though in a slower-growth environment it can also make the whole machine look… well… like the economy.
Berkshire Hathaway stock valuation: where BRK.B stands heading into 2026
As of Dec. 19, 2025, Berkshire’s Class B shares were trading around the mid-$490s. [27]
Some widely cited valuation markers around that level include:
- Price-to-book ratio of about 1.528 (as of Dec. 19, per YCharts). [28]
- Market cap around $1.067 trillion (per YCharts at the same timestamp). [29]
- A trailing P/E ratio shown around the mid-teens on YCharts (with additional “normalized” and “operating” P/E variants also listed). [30]
Meanwhile, Stock Analysis data shows BRK.B’s beta near 0.70 and a 52-week price change of about +10.74%, suggesting lower volatility than the broad market over that window. [31]
The catch with Berkshire valuation (and the reason analysts argue about it for sport) is that you’re valuing three things at once:
- operating businesses with their own cycles,
- a huge equity portfolio, and
- a capital allocation machine whose effectiveness historically depended heavily on Buffett’s judgment.
That third item is exactly what the market is trying to re-price.
Analyst forecasts for Berkshire Hathaway stock: price targets and ratings
Wall Street’s published price targets for BRK.B vary by source and coverage universe. Two commonly referenced aggregators currently show:
- TipRanks: “Moderate Buy” consensus rating based on 2 analyst ratings, with an average 12-month price target of $538.00 (high $595, low $481), implying mid-single-digit upside from the referenced price on the page. [32]
- MarketBeat: “Buy” consensus rating shown as based on 1 analyst, with an average price target of $585.00 (range $575–$595), implying higher upside from the referenced current price on the page. [33]
Two important caveats (the unglamorous but necessary kind):
- Berkshire’s analyst “consensus” can look thin depending on where you pull the data, because aggregators differ on which analysts they include and how frequently they update.
- Price targets are not forecasts in the physics sense. They’re scenario-based opinions that can change fast—especially during leadership transitions.
The Abel era: what investors are watching in 2026
Here are the themes most likely to drive Berkshire Hathaway stock headlines and BRK.B price action in the coming quarters—based on current reporting and analyst commentary.
1) Capital allocation strategy: cash, deals, buybacks, or… dividends?
Berkshire has enormous cash, but size limits what “moves the needle.” Reuters described Berkshire’s scale as imposing constraints and reported renewed investor discussion around dividends and more formal capital allocation messaging. [34]
2) The investing bench after Combs’ departure
AP reported the market is still watching what happens with Ted Weschler and Ajit Jain, and how Berkshire will manage a stock portfolio reported as worth more than $300 billion. [35]
3) Operating performance and “hands-on” management
One potential bull case for BRK.B is that Abel—often described as more hands-on than Buffett—can squeeze more performance out of the operating companies, improving margins and execution across a sprawling set of businesses. Reuters reported that some analysts see “tighter hands-on” leadership as potentially more needle-moving than Berkshire’s traditional decentralized approach. [36]
4) Insurance results: GEICO, underwriting cycles, and catastrophe volatility
GEICO has a new CEO (Nancy Pierce), and insurance results remain one of the biggest swing factors in Berkshire’s quarterly performance. [37]
5) The “Buffett premium,” governance, and shareholder influence
Reuters reported that Buffett controls 29.8% of Berkshire’s voting power, meaning his influence (and the estate’s influence) can remain significant for years—potentially limiting activist pressure even if some shareholders push for change. [38]
At the same time, Buffett himself has signaled that he intends to remain a major shareholder and “go quiet” as Abel becomes the primary communicator with shareholders. [39]
What this means for BRK.B today
As of Dec. 20, 2025, Berkshire Hathaway stock is trading in a market-defined transition: the business remains a diversified powerhouse with a record cash stockpile, but the stock’s narrative is dominated by succession, governance, and capital deployment.
In other words: Berkshire’s fundamentals matter (as always), but the “Buffett-to-Abel discount rate” may matter more than usual.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
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References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 5. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 6. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 7. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 8. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 9. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. apnews.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. apnews.com, 14. www.reuters.com, 15. www.reuters.com, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. www.reuters.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.reuters.com, 22. www.reuters.com, 23. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 24. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 25. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 26. www.reuters.com, 27. stockanalysis.com, 28. ycharts.com, 29. ycharts.com, 30. ycharts.com, 31. stockanalysis.com, 32. www.tipranks.com, 33. www.marketbeat.com, 34. www.reuters.com, 35. apnews.com, 36. www.reuters.com, 37. www.berkshirehathaway.com, 38. www.reuters.com, 39. www.reuters.com
