Berkshire Kept Buying Back Stock as Shares Hit Records. Here’s What the Price It Paid Tells You.

Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company led by Warren Buffett, has been consistently buying back its own shares, spending $9.6 billion in the third quarter of 2026. This amount is more than double the $4.5 billion spent in the previous quarter. However, the real insight comes from the price Berkshire paid for these shares. Berkshire only buys back shares when its CEO believes the purchase price is below the company's intrinsic value, which is an estimate of the business's true worth.

This means the company isn't just spending money or trying to boost its stock price. Instead, management must see value in the shares being purchased. There are limits to this strategy; Berkshire won't repurchase shares if it would reduce its cash holdings below $30 billion. But there's no upper limit, and Berkshire isn't obligated to make any purchases.

When Berkshire spends billions buying its own shares, investors take notice. In July, the company bought about 3.1 million Class B shares at an average price of $496.24 each, and in August, it bought another 1.5 million shares at an average price of $503.99. In September, Berkshire's purchases were particularly notable. The company bought about 7.7 million Class B shares at an average price of $506.64, equivalent to $759,960 per Class A share, which represents a significant investment.

Despite Berkshire's substantial cash reserves, the rising stock price may have prompted the company to halt share repurchases. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that Berkshire believes its stock is overvalued; it could simply indicate that the discount wasn't large enough to justify further spending. The buying spree provides investors with a useful reference point to evaluate the stock.

If shares retreat to previous levels, there's evidence that management once found those valuations attractive.