(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox every Friday night.)
Berkshire stock gets left behind as S&P 500 climbs to record high
As of March 31st’s close, Berkshire stock was roughly even with the S&P, with a year-to-date decline of about 4.7%.
A day earlier, Berkshire B was 1.8 points ahead of the S&P, holding its largest lead of the year.
On Friday, it narrowed its gap with the index by 9.7 percentage points, making it the largest gap yet in 2026.
Berkshire stock has not performed well since it closed at a record high on May 2, 2025, just before Warren Buffett announced he would step down as CEO at the end of the year.
Both classes are now down more than 12% since Buffett’s announcement, although they are about 3% above their early August lows.
Berkshire’s financial history updated
Buffett and Berkshire on the Internet
Some links may require a subscription.
CNBC’s Buffett Archive Highlights
“We do not grudge the taxes we paid” (2014)
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger explain why they don’t try to avoid paying US taxes.
Andrew Ross Sorkin: “Berkshire paid $8.9 billion in taxes in 2013. Pfizer is currently considering an acquisition that would allow it to save income tax expenses and create shareholder value by moving its technology holding company offshore. If it would create value for Berkshire shareholders, would you and Charlie consider this?”
Warren Buffett: I think the answer to that is no.
Charlie, what do you say? (applause)
Charlie Munger: I think so. I think it’s crazy that we can be as prosperous as Berkshire and maintain this prosperity while paying zero taxes. That’s not a legitimate ideal. (applause)
Warren Buffett: Yeah.
Berkshire could not have been done in any country other than the United States. You know, look at what we got and everything.
America helped Charlie and I become very, very, very wealthy in a very, very, very big way. (lol). Charlie?
Charlie Munger: I have no complaints. And I look around this group and I see you eating breakfast. It’s a very happy group of people.
I don’t think there are many people who gnash their teeth when others have a little more.
Warren Buffett: But we don’t pay. I don’t want it to be holier-than-thou. We pay nothing more. Once you’ve calculated your taxes on a return that’s over 20,000 pages long, just don’t pay. I don’t add tips like 20 percent or 15 percent. (laughs)
And we do certain transactions based on taxes. We have low-income housing tax credits, and in fact, George Bush 41 congratulated me. That’s why I’m bipartisan.
The wind energy trades and solar power trades that we do are tax-funded, but otherwise they don’t make economic sense.
Therefore, we follow the rules.
However, we do not begrudge the taxes we paid. We make a lot of money while paying US taxes. (applause)
berkshire stock watch
BRK.A stock price: ~$711,558.8
BRK.B stock price: $474.58
BRK.BP/E (TTM): 15.29
Berkshire Market Capitalization: $1,023,449,080,531
Berkshire Cash as of December 31: $373.3 billion (down 2.2% from September 30)
Excluding railroad cash and outstanding Treasury bills: $369 billion (4.1% increase from September 30)
Berkshire resumed stock buybacks on March 4, 2026, but has not disclosed whether it has made additional purchases since then.
(All figures are as of the date of publication, unless otherwise noted)
Berkshire’s Top Stock Holdings – April 17, 2026
Berkshire’s top U.S. and Japanese listed stocks by market capitalization, based on the latest closing prices.
Assets held are as of September 30, 2025, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing dated November 14, 2025. However, the following cases are excluded.
A complete list of holdings and current market value is available on CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
Question or comment
If you have any questions or comments about the newsletter, please send them to alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, we do not forward questions or comments to Mr. Buffett himself.)
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I also highly recommend Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders. It’s collected here on Berkshire’s website.
— Alex Crippen, Warren Buffett Watch Editor
