Berkshire spent $7.8 billion on buybacks as Q2 profit rose 16%
What's new: The conglomerate also turned net buyer of stocks for the first time in 14 quarters, including a $10 billion addition to Alphabet.
Berkshire Hathaway stepped up spending in the second quarter, repurchasing $4.5 billion of its own stock and buying billions more in equities as operating profit beat expectations. The company said it bought back another $3.3 billion of shares in July, while quarterly operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion and revenue climbed 10% to $101.81 billion. Net income more than doubled to $25.67 billion, helped by unrealized gains on stocks it still holds. Berkshire ended June with about $364.7 billion in cash, down from a record $380.2 billion three months earlier. The shift came in Greg Abel's second quarter as chief executive, with Berkshire adding $10 billion to its Alphabet stake and ending 14 straight quarters as a net seller of shares.