Post-Buffett Berkshire Hathaway Can't Keep Up With S&P 500 — Michael Burry Says It's Lost Its 'Attractive' Tag

Berkshire Hathaway’s stock is up just about 3% in 2026, compared to a climb of over 13% for the S&P 500.

• Michael Burry said in a post on Substack that he no longer finds “Berkshire an attractive investment going forward” after former CEO Warren Buffett’s step down from the company last year.
• He referred to the company’s growing cash pile, noting that although Berkshire had started to spend some cash under new CEO Greg Abel, not much of it has been utilized. 
• The company ended its June quarter with $364.7 billion in cash and Treasury bills, down 4% from the previous quarter, marking the company’s first sequential decline in cash in four years.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B) is putting some of its enormous cash hoard to work under new CEO Greg Abel, but the move has done little so far to close the performance gap with the broader U.S. market, and veteran investor Michael Burry is not convinced the post-Warren Buffett Berkshire is an attractive investment anymore.

It has had a rather lacklustre run as investors adjust to a company without Buffett at the helm. Berkshire shares are up roughly 3% in 2026, considerably underperforming the benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

‘The Big Short’ investor Michael Burry said in a post on Substack that he no longer finds “Berkshire an attractive investment going forward” after Buffett’s step down. 

Burry’s Stance On Berkshire Hathaway 

Buffett stepped down as Berkshire’s CEO at the end of 2025, handing over the baton to Greg Abel after decades of building it into one of the world’s most closely watched capital-allocation conglomerates. Burry has now raised questions about Berkshire’s appeal under Abel. 

“My biggest fear for Berkshire Hathaway was that when Warren finally stepped down, the successor would be too old and otherwise not Warren, so would not have his patience for the fat pitch. I believe this fear has come true,” Burry said in his post. 

He referred to the company’s growing cash pile, noting that although Berkshire had started to spend some cash under Abel, “I realize not too much of the cash pile has been spent, and the cash pile remains large,” he said. 

“However, these first steps look to be more framing moves than investment moves,” Burry added. 

Berkshire’s Cash Pile Declines For The First Time In 4 Years

Burry’s comments come shortly after Berkshire reported its second-quarter results last week. The company ended its June quarter with $365.5 billion in cash and Treasury bills, down about 8% from the previous quarter of a record $397.4 billion. It marked the company’s first sequential decline in cash in four years.

“Berkshire Hathaway's massive cash pile declined for the first time in 4 years, meaning it was finally a net buyer of stocks,” Barchart said in a post on X. 

Berkshire was a net buyer of equities in the second quarter,  purchasing $23.5 billion versus $3.7 billion of sales. Berkshire's notable moves include a $10 billion investment in Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) as well as $4.5 billion spent buying back its own stock.

Morningstar said in a report that the firm is “continuing to benefit from solid underwriting in its insurance businesses despite pricing coming down over the past year.”

What Does Retail Think About Berkshire Stock?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BRK.A stock declined from ‘extremely bullish’ to ‘bullish’ territory over 24 hours amid ‘extremely high’ message volumes. 

Meanwhile, sentiment for BRK.B stock stayed in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory amid ‘extremely high’ message volume. 

One user said, “Berkshire deploying capital is a major bullish signal.”

Another user said, “Anyone notice that not only did buybacks accelerate from Q1 to Q2, they continued to accelerate into Q3 from the higher Q2 pace. Greg must have a different valuation method for Berkshire shares vs Charlie and Warren. Operationally, he is a better CEO. Makes sense.”

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