Warren Buffett’s warning that attractive valuations are difficult to find has not meant Berkshire Hathaway is abandoning stocks. In his 2024 shareholder letter, Buffett said Berkshire remains committed to deploying most of its capital in equities, while acknowledging that compelling opportunities are uncommon.
Berkshire owns entire operating businesses as well as minority stakes in public companies such as Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Moody’s. Buffett wrote that outstanding businesses are rarely offered for sale in full, but small ownership positions can occasionally be bought at bargain prices. Berkshire therefore treats stock purchases as partial acquisitions and weighs them against opportunities to buy whole companies.
That flexibility also helps explain why Berkshire can be cautious while continuing to own a large equity base. Publicly traded holdings can be sold or expanded more readily than controlled businesses, although Berkshire’s size limits how quickly it can move in and out of major positions. The company’s 2024 filing also showed that it repurchased no Class A or Class B shares in the fourth quarter, consistent with its policy of buying back stock only when management considers the price below Berkshire’s conservatively estimated intrinsic value.
The result is a deliberately uneven pattern: Berkshire can sell heavily when prices or taxes make a position less attractive, hold hundreds of billions of dollars in liquid assets while waiting, and still purchase stocks when an individual business meets its standards. Buffett’s stated position is that cash equivalents are a temporary deployment choice, not a preferred long-term substitute for owning strong businesses. Greg Abel, identified as Buffett’s successor as chief executive, is expected to write future shareholder letters and has been credited by Buffett with acting decisively when unusually attractive opportunities appear.