OMAHA, Nebraska: Berkshire Hathaway shares climbed on Monday to their highest level since Warren Buffett announced he would step down as chief executive in May 2025, after the conglomerate reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and new CEO Greg Abel accelerated the deployment of its massive cash reserves.

The company said cash holdings fell to US$364.7 billion on June 30, down from a record $380.2 billion three months earlier.

During the second quarter, Berkshire repurchased $4.5 billion of its own shares and invested $23.5 billion in other stocks, including a $10 billion stake in Alphabet, the parent of Google and YouTube.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate also spent at least $10.1 billion more in July on additional share buybacks and its acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison.

Second-quarter operating profit rose 16 percent to $12.98 billion, with gains from its railroad, service and some insurance businesses offsetting higher accident claims and advertising spending at Geico.

Net income more than doubled to $25.67 billion, helped by paper gains on investments including Alphabet and Apple. Revenue increased 10 percent, following more than two years of largely stagnant growth.

The results prompted analysts to raise their outlook for the company.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Meyer Shields described the quarter as "very solid," while UBS analyst Brian Meredith said Berkshire's "meaningful" cash deployment reflected the company's disciplined approach to capital allocation.

Shields maintained an "underperform" rating on Berkshire, citing macroeconomic uncertainty and pricing pressures in the property and casualty insurance business. Meredith continued to rate the stock a "buy."

In morning trading, Berkshire's Class A shares rose as much as 3.3 percent to $806,102.81, while its Class B shares climbed as much as 3.1 percent to $537.74. The stock last traded at a higher level on May 2, 2025, the day before Buffett announced he would step down after 60 years as chief executive.