Berkshire shares suffer longest losing streak in more than 7 years

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Shares of Berkshire Hathaway have lost ground for eight consecutive days.

It is their longest losing streak since eight straight sessions of losses in December of 2018.

The Class A shares are down 4.7% and the Class B shares have dropped 4.9% since their most recent daily gains on March 17.

Berkshire is falling along with the overall market, which has been hit by rising energy prices and global uncertainty from the Iran war.

While the S&P 500 index has not seen a string of daily losses, it is down 5.2% over the same period.

Berkshire’s year-to-date losses are close to the S&P’s 7% drop. The benchmark index is on a five-week losing streak. 

Berkshire’s stock prices are down more than 13% since Warren Buffett announced at last year’s shareholders meeting that he would be stepping down as CEO at the of 2025.

They are roughly 2% above their August lows but have fallen below two more recent lows in early November and late January.

Berkshire Hathaway’s newest investment in Japan is off to a strong start.

Shares of Tokio Marine Holdings soared more than 24% this week after Monday’s announcement that Berkshire’s National Indemnity is paying $1.8 billion for a stake of almost 2.5% in Japan’s oldest insurance company, which Barron’s calls “one of the world’s best-run property and casualty insurers.”

Today, Berkshire’s new purchase has a market value of almost $2.3 billion. 

The two companies will also collaborate in reinsurance and look for strategic investments around the world.

In a Tokio Marine news release, the company said Berkshire’s corporate culture and values “closely align with those of our own.”

It added, “Importantly, this is not merely a business alliance. We believe that it establishes a long-term strategic relationship anchored by an equity stake that will serve as a powerful catalyst for the medium- to long-term growth of both companies.”

Berkshire’s insurance chief Ajit Jain is quoted as saying, “We expect this Strategic Partnership to create compelling long-term opportunities for both organizations.”

Barron’s reports Jain oversaw the investment “and likely involved former CEO Warren Buffett, now serving as chairman of the board.”

“The deal shows Berkshire’s ability to strike insurance deals is undiminished even as Buffett has given up the CEO job in favor of Greg Abel. That’s a good sign for Berkshire given the importance of insurance to the $1 trillion market value company.”

Tokio Marine issued new shares for Berkshire to purchase. It plans to buy back an equal amount of its already-issued stock to prevent dilution for existing shareholders.

Berkshire will be allowed to increase its stake to just under 10% through open-market purchases. It would need approval from Tokio Marine’s board to go higher.

Insurance Business notes Tokio Marine has spent more than $17 billion over the past two decades for acquisitions in the U.S., including Philadelphia Insurance Companies and Delphi Insurance Group. 

It expects the new partnership “could accelerate that trajectory through Berkshire’s deal-sourcing reach and reinsurance capacity.”

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BRK.A stock price: $703,700.00

BRK.B stock price: $468.49

BRK.B P/E (TTM): 15.09

Berkshire market capitalization: $1,010,965,573,250

Berkshire Cash as of December 31: $373.3 billion (Down 2.2% from Sept. 30)

Excluding Rail Cash and Subtracting T-Bills Payable: $369.0 billion (Up 4.1% from September 30)

Berkshire resumed stock repurchases on March 4, 2026.

(All figures are as of the date of publication, unless otherwise indicated)

Berkshire’s top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S. and Japan, by market value, based on the latest closing prices.

Holdings are as of September 30, 2025, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing on November 14, 2025, except for:

The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at [email protected]. (Sorry, but we don’t forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)

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Also, Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here on Berkshire’s website.

— Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch