Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares closed at a record $539.82 on October 20, 2026, beating the old $539.80 high from May 2, 2025 by just two cents after 17 months. Most of the rally came from money leaving AI stocks: from October 6 to 20, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell 15.17%, while Berkshire rose in nine of those sessions. In Q2, Berkshire bought back $4.5 billion of its stock and invested $23.5 billion in other stocks, while operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion. Buffett stepped down as chairman on September 18, 2026, and his son Howard Buffett became non-executive chairman, while rising profits and buybacks under Abel gave investors proof that Berkshire can run well without Buffett at the top. The article argues the record may not last if third-quarter operating earnings fall short of $13.48 billion and the chip ETF recovers its October losses.
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