Berkshire Hathaway agreed Sunday to acquire homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home in a $6.8 billion deal, deepening the conglomerate’s bet on the U.S. housing market after a prolonged downturn.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company will pay $72.50 per share in cash for Taylor Morrison, according to a statement. The offer represents a 24% premium to the homebuilder’s closing price on May 29 and values the company at about $8.5 billion, including debt.

The acquisition marks one of the first major strategic deals under Warren Buffett’s successor Greg Abel, who took over as CEO at the start of 2026. The acquisition, expected to close in the second half of 2026, is relatively modest by Berkshire standards as it’s sitting on a cash hoard nearing $400 billion.

“Berkshire is acquiring a best-in-class national homebuilder, led by an exceptional team and backed by a trusted reputation for customer experience,” Abel said in the statement. “Over time, we expect to unify our site-built homebuilding operations into a combined platform enabling us to deliver the dream of homeownership to more Americans.”

The deal suggests Berkshire is positioning for a recovery in U.S. housing demand despite elevated mortgage rates and affordability pressures that have weighed on the sector in recent years.

“They are betting the housing cycle will turn and that there is pent-up demand,” Bill Stone, Glenview Trust CIO and a Berkshire shareholder, told CNBC.

The acquisition expands Berkshire’s already sizable footprint in housing. The conglomerate owns manufactured-home giant Clayton Homes, a slew of building product companies as well as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, one of the largest residential real estate brokerage franchise networks in the U.S.

Berkshire’s last major deal came in October, when it reached a $9.7 billion cash deal to purchase of OxyChem, the chemical business of Occidental Petroleum.

A slew of tech mega-IPOs are ahead and traders expect they’ll push Warren Buffett aside on their first day of trading.

SpaceX on Wednesday officially filed to go public on the Nasdaq. On the same day, reports circulated that OpenAI will file for an IPO confidentially as soon as Friday.

After the OpenAI reports, traders on prediction market platform Kalshi now see a 92% chance that the ChatGPT owner files for an IPO this year. Traders also think its chief private rival, Anthropic, has 69% odds it will officially go public this year. 

And according to traders on Polymarket, all are expected to trade on their first days at valuations north of $1 trillion, which would be records for a public debut.

SpaceX was valued at $1.25 trillion in February, and Polymarket traders think there’s a 56% chance it closes its first trading day above $2.2 trillion. OpenAI was last valued at $852 billion, and traders think there’s a 65% chance it ends its first public trading day above $1.4 trillion.

Meanwhile, traders place 47% odds that Anthropic on its first day of public trading will close above $1.8 trillion. The company reportedly is in talks for a new funding round at a $900 billion valuation. 

Those valuations would place the companies firmly in the $1 trillion club, and likely above Berkshire Hathaway’s market cap, currently at $1.03 trillion. They’d even challenge Meta and Tesla’s around $1.5 trillion market caps. 

Deutsche Bank analyst Adrian Cox pointed out in a Thursday note that Berkshire Hathaway had over $350 billion in revenue last year. That compares to SpaceX’s $18.67 billion in revenues during 2025. OpenAI reportedly generated $13.1 billion of revenue last year.

Anthropic’s revenues for 2025 aren’t as clear, but reports Wednesday said that the company is pacing for a second-quarter profit, a first for the Claude owner, at nearly $11 billion in revenue. SpaceX and OpenAI are unprofitable companies, despite their massive valuations. 

The massive valuations come as companies have stayed private for longer, partially thanks to the growing number of ways to raise capital outside of public markets. But the rush of these IPOs in a row have created concerns there won’t be enough buyers to sustain these high valuations.

Cox threw cold water on those fears. 

“While there may be concerns about the capacity of the market to absorb a number of IPOs valued at several hundred billion dollars this year, they would slot into an US stock market worth about $70trn overall,” he wrote. “That is five times larger in nominal terms than it was even at the peak of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s. At that time, there was an average of almost 500 IPOs a year, compared with about 120 this decade.”

Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes a CNBC minority investment.

Berkshire Hathaway‘s revamp of its portfolio sent certain stocks higher Monday, as investors parsed the company’s latest bets and exits disclosed in the conglomerate’s quarterly filings.

The Omaha-based conglomerate disclosed its quarter-end equity holdings in a regulatory filing Friday, offering one of the first looks at the portfolio under new CEO Greg Abel, who took over at the start of the year from legendary investor Warren Buffett.

One of the biggest moves from the latest filing was a sizeable new stake in Delta Air Lines. Berkshire purchased 39.8 million shares in the airline, valued at $2.6 billion at the end of March, making it the company’s 14th largest holding by the end of March. Delta shares jumped more than 3% at one point Monday.

The Delta purchase marked a return to the airline industry for Berkshire. Six years ago, Buffett surprised the market by exiting Berkshire’s entire U.S. airline portfolio, unloading positions worth more than $4 billion in United, American, Southwest and Delta Air Lines. Buffett argued at the time that the pandemic had permanently reshaped consumer habits and travel demand.

Berkshire also initiated a position in Macy’s last quarter. The department store shares climbed more than 1% Monday after the filing revealed Berkshire took a new stake valued at roughly $55 million at the end of the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the Omaha-based conglomerate significantly increased its relatively new position in Alphabet, making the Google parent its seventh-largest holding. Also among Berkshire’s largest holdings, the firm trimmed its stake in Chevron.

Berkshire sold a slew of stocks last quarter, likely as part of an effort to unwind positions tied to Todd Combs, who left the company at the end of 2025 to join JPMorgan. Combs had been personally recruited by Buffett to manage Berkshire’s equity portfolio alongside Weschler.

Notable sales included Mastercard and Visa, two early Combs investments that reflected positions from his former hedge fund, as well as a full exit from Amazon, another holding widely seen as tied to him.

Other stocks Berkshire sold included UnitedHealth Group, Aon, Pool Corporation, Domino’s Pizza and Charter Communications.

Abel, who took center stage at Berkshire’s annual meeting earlier this month, said he continues to consult the 95-year-old Buffett on investment decisions.

“He’s in the office every day, so we’re talking every day if I’m in Omaha, we’re always connecting,” Abel said in March. “If I’m traveling, like I was yesterday, I often check in just to catch up on what he’s seeing, what he’s hearing, what am I feeling. So if it’s not every day, it’s every couple days.”

— Alex Crippen contributed to this report.

Berkshire Hathaway added a sizeable stake in Delta Air Lines, marking the conglomerate’s return to the airline industry after exiting the sector entirely during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

The Omaha-based company built a position worth more than $2.6 billion, making Delta Berkshire’s 14th-largest holding at the end of March, according to a new regulatory filing.

Warren Buffett stunned investors six years ago when he sold Berkshire’s entire equity portfolio of U.S. airlines, including stakes worth more than $4 billion across United, American, Southwest and Delta Air Lines. Buffett said at the time that the pandemic had fundamentally altered consumer behavior and travel patterns.

Among Berkshire’s largest holdings, the firm trimmed its stake in Chevron during the quarter while significantly increasing its relatively new position in Alphabet. The Google parent is now Berkshire’s seventh-largest holding.

Berkshire also initiated a small position in Macy’s, valued at roughly $55 million at the end of the first quarter.

Unwinding Todd Combs positions

Meanwhile, the conglomerate sold a slew of stocks last quarter, likely as part of an effort to unwind positions tied to departed lieutenant Todd Combs.

The longtime investment manager and Geico chief left for JPMorgan at the end of 2025. Combs had been one of two portfolio managers recruited by Buffett to help oversee Berkshire’s equity portfolio. Ted Weschler, the other investment manager, continues to oversee about 6% of the holdings.

Among the most notable sales were Mastercard and Visa, the first stocks Combs purchased after joining Berkshire and positions that mirrored major holdings from his former hedge fund, Castle Point Capital.

The conglomerate also fully exited Amazon after trimming the position late last year. The investment had long been viewed by some investors as a Combs-driven bet.

Other stocks Berkshire sold included UnitedHealth Group, Aon, Pool Corporation, Domino’s Pizza and Charter Communications.

Not ideal environment

Buffett, who stepped down as CEO after more than six decades at the helm, remains chairman of the Omaha, Nebraska-based company and continues to come into the office five days a week.

New CEO Greg Abel has said he consults Buffett, 95, on investments and capital allocation, including the recent resumption of buybacks in the first quarter.

Buffett recently acknowledged displeasure with the investing backdrop as Berkshire’s cash hoard swells to a record nearing $400 billion.

“It isn’t our ideal surrounding area — or environment, I should say — in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire,” the former CEO said.

Berkshire Hathaway said Thursday it has resumed repurchasing its own shares for the first time since 2024 and separately new CEO Greg Abel bought $15 million worth of stock himself, an amount equal to his after-tax annual salary.

Abel told CNBC he will continue using his full salary amount to purchase Berkshire shares every year.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate disclosed in a regulatory filing that it began buying back its Class A and Class B shares on Wednesday. Berkshire’s stated policy allows the company to repurchase stock whenever the chief executive — after consultation with the chairman of the board, Warren Buffett —believes that the repurchase price is below Berkshire’s intrinsic value, according to its annual report released over the weekend.

“I absolutely talked to Warren,” Abel told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “So how I approached it was, obviously looking at the value, having a view of intrinsic value [and then] consulted with Warren relative to the value and the timing.”

Abel said normally the company wouldn’t disclose the start of the repurchases. “We felt it was important to communicate to our shareholders, our partners, our owners, with the transition of leadership,” he said.

Abel, 62, took over for Buffett, 95, at the start of January. Shares of Berkshire have fallen 3% this year and 10% from their record high last May. The stock came under pressure earlier this week after the firm reported a near 30% decline in its operating earnings for the fourth quarter, due in large part to weakness in the insurance business.

The last time Berkshire repurchased shares was the second quarter of 2024 and some investors since then have been clamoring for the company to deploy its $373.3 billion cash hoard in some way.

Berkshire B shares added 1% in early trading Thursday following the news.

Buffett owns about 37.5% of Berkshire’s Class A shares and has no intention of selling his stake aside from his charitable giving. He has previously said the conglomerate represents roughly 99.5% of his net worth.

“Absolute alignment with our shareholders, our partners, our owners, is critical,” Abel told CNBC. “I already have some shares, but the goal was to continue to demonstrate alignment with them. … As the CEO, I absolutely, obviously, believe in Berkshire, with the transition from Warren, and I inherited a company that has an incredible foundation.”

Before the latest purchase, Abel, a longtime Berkshire executive who previously oversaw the company’s noninsurance operations, owned $164.4 million worth of Berkshire stock, according to FactSet.

The CEO said he was committed to doing this every year with his after-tax salary for as long as he is leading Berkshire, which Abel said he hopes is “20 years.”

Abel has emphasized continuity with Buffett’s investment philosophy since taking the helm. He used his first annual shareholder letter over the weekend to reassure investors that the conglomerate’s culture of financial conservatism and disciplined investing will continue “into perpetuity.”

While some investors were heartened to know Abel will continue to run the company using Buffett’s principles, some were disappointed there were not more bold moves made out of the gates by him. Wednesday’s announcements may assuage those investors.

CNBC’s Becky Quick asked Abel what Buffett and the board had to say about his salary reinvestment plan.

“Both were obviously very supportive,” said Abel.

According to the CEO, they said “This is so Berkshire.”

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel said he still speaks with Warren Buffett nearly every day, underscoring the continued presence of the legendary investor at the sprawling conglomerate, even after handing over the top job at the start of the year.

Buffett, who stepped down as CEO after more than six decades at the helm, remains chairman of the Omaha, Nebraska-based company and continues to come into the office regularly, Abel said.

“He’s in the office every day, so we’re talking every day if I’m in Omaha, we’re always connecting,” Abel said Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “If I’m traveling, like I was yesterday, I often check in just to catch up on what he’s seeing, what he’s hearing, what am I feeling. So if it’s not every day, it’s every couple days.”

Abel also acknowledged the challenge of stepping into Buffett’s role as Berkshire’s chief communicator to shareholders, particularly when writing his first annual letter to investors.

“The shoes to fill are tough on all fronts, but Warren is an exceptional communicator,” Abel said. “It was not easy. I’ve told Warren, ‘listen, the responsibilities transferred are great, but as far as the work and the task I had to do, that was the toughest.'”

Abel used the letter to shareholders to outline a clear framework of foundational values centered on financial strength and disciplined investing, vowing to preserve the blueprint Buffett carefully orchestrated since the 1960s.

Buffett offered little comfort, Abel added with a laugh. “When we were discussing it, he said, ‘the second letter doesn’t get any easier.'”

On investing, Abel said Berkshire is unlikely to move into cryptocurrencies, echoing Buffett’s long-standing skepticism of the asset class.

“I don’t think you’ll see crypto … I just don’t see it,” Abel said.

He left the door open to investments tied to technology, however.

“What I do see is that when it comes to technology, even from an operational perspective, where we’re seeing how we use it, the impact it’s having, it does allow us to develop strong views and a better knowledge base around certain companies that are technology companies, or how we’re using the technology. So technology will always be on the table,” Abel said.

Berkshire Hathaway shares fell Monday after the conglomerate reported a sharp decline in fourth-quarter operating earnings, while new CEO Greg Abel offered few signs of an immediate strategic shift in his first communication with shareholders.

Class A shares of the Omaha-based conglomerate slid 4.9% to start the week. The stock’s decline came after Berkshire posted operating earnings of $10.2 billion for the fourth quarter, down more than 29% from $14.56 billion a year earlier. The drop was driven largely by weakness in the insurance business, where underwriting profits tumbled 54% to $1.56 billion from $3.41 billion in the year-earlier period.

The results mark an early challenge for Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett as CEO at the start of 2026. While investors had broadly praised Abel’s first annual shareholder letter for reaffirming Berkshire’s long-standing culture of financial strength and disciplined investing, some had hoped for more aggressive signals on capital deployment given the company’s swelling cash balance.

Berkshire ended 2025 with more than $370 billion in cash and Treasury holdings. In the letter, Abel reiterated that the company does not plan to initiate a dividend so long as it believes retained earnings can create more than a dollar of market value for shareholders.

“We were just a little surprised by the absence of any sort of dividend, and a little more by the stated sustained unwillingness to pay dividends,” Meyer Shields, an analyst at KBW said in a note. “Given Berkshire’s very significant current cash position and — just as important, in our view — its prospects for sustained cash generation, we’d seen some chance of persistent dividends accompanying the CEO transition.”

Abel instead emphasized reinvestment and opportunistic share repurchases when Berkshire stock trades below intrinsic value, maintaining the capital allocation framework long championed by Buffett.

Still, not all analysts were bearish. Brian Meredith of UBS said that while quarterly results came in weaker than expected, Berkshire’s defensive characteristics could support the stock.

“We actually anticipate BRK’s shares will outperform the broader market given the elevated geopolitical tensions,” Meredith wrote in a note to clients. “BRK is generally considered very defensive. Historically, BRK shares have outperformed during periods of market volatility benefiting from their diversified earnings streams, liquidity position, and largely U.S.-focused businesses.”

Meredith added that Berkshire’s annual letter reiterated those core principles and values. Looking ahead to 2026 and 2027, he expects management to focus on improving operating margins at BNSF to bring them closer to industry peers and boosting policy retentions at Geico while maintaining profitability.

Berkshire Hathaway reported a big decline in its operating earnings for the fourth quarter, due in large part to weakness in the conglomerate’s insurance business.

Earnings from operations totaled $10.2 billion in Q4. That’s down more than 29% from $14.56 billion in the year-earlier period.

This was the final quarter under Warren Buffett as CEO, who announced he was stepping down at the annual shareholders meeting last May. Greg Abel took the reins to start 2026 and vowed in Berkshire’s annual letter accompanying Saturday’s results to continue the culture Buffett built of financial strength and capital discipline. Buffett remains chairman.

Insurance underwriting profits dropped 54% to $1.56 billion from $3.41 billion a year prior. Insurance investment income slid nearly 25% from to $3.1 billion from $4.088 billion.

For the full-year 2025, operating earnings totaled $44.49 billion. That’s down from $47.44 billion in the year prior.

Profits from insurance underwriting came in at $7.26 billion, down from $9 billion in 2024. Insurance investment income for the year eased to $12.5 billion from $13.6 billion a year prior.

Overall earnings, which include gains or losses from the conglomerate’s stock market investments, fell slightly in the fourth quarter to $19.2 billion from $19.7 billion a year prior. However, those numbers were impacted by a $4.5 billion impairment from Berkshire’s investments in Kraft Heinz and Occidental Petroleum. Investment gains came in at $13.5 billion.

Full year overall earnings, meanwhile, fell to $66.97 billion from $89 billion a year prior. To be sure, Berkshire always tells investors to pay little attention to its investments’ performance over short time frames.

“The amount of investment gains (losses) in any given quarter is usually meaningless and delivers figures for net earnings per share that can be extremely misleading to investors who have little or no knowledge of accounting rules,” the company said in its earnings release.