Warren Buffett's and Greg Abel's $175 Billion Warning Echoes Loudly Through Wall Street
Key Points
Although Berkshire's new CEO, Greg Abel, was a net buyer of stocks in the June-ended quarter, this doesn't tell the complete story.
Collectively, Buffett and Abel have sold $175 billion more in stock than they've purchased since October 2022.
Finding a good deal is challenging amid a historically pricey stock market.
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Two events that always seem to captivate investors' attention are Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRKA)(NYSE: BRKB) operating results and its quarterly Form 13F filing. Given the phenomenal investing track record of Berkshire's now-retired CEO, Warren Buffett, and his protégé, Greg Abel, it pays to know which stocks are intriguing Berkshire's bosses.
But over much of the last four years, Buffett's and Abel's investing activity hasn't meshed with the long-term ethos they've preached. Even though Berkshire's new CEO, Abel, was a net buyer of stocks in the June-ended quarter, to the tune of $19.8 billion, this dynamic duo has been a net seller of equities since October 2022.
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For those willing to dig beneath the headlines, it's impossible to miss Warren Buffett's and Greg Abel's warning to Wall Street.
Warren Buffett retired as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO on Dec. 31, 2025. Image source: The Motley Fool.
Buffett and Abel have been net sellers of stocks in 14 of the last 15 quarters
During the second quarter, Abel spent about $17 billion purchasing shares of Alphabet. This accounted for the lion's share of Berkshire's buying activity, making its net purchasing for the quarter somewhat deceptive.
Over the last 15 quarters, Buffett and Abel have been net sellers in 14 of them:
- Q4 2022: $14.64 billion in net-equity sales
- Q1 2023: $10.41 billion
- Q2 2023: $7.981 billion
- Q3 2023: $5.253 billion
- Q4 2023: $0.525 billion
- Q1 2024: $17.281 billion
- Q2 2024: $75.536 billion
- Q3 2024: $34.592 billion
- Q4 2024: $6.713 billion
- Q1 2025: $1.494 billion
- Q2 2025: $3.006 billion
- Q3 2025: $6.099 billion
- Q4 2025: $3.164 billion
- Q1 2026: $8.149 billion
- Q2 2026: $19.774 billion in net-equity purchases
Collectively, Berkshire's bosses have sold a net of $175 billion in stock since Oct. 1, 2022, and these actions send an undeniable warning to investors.
Image source: Getty Images.
Finding a good deal has been challenging amid a historically pricey stock market
While Abel may feel more comfortable buying tech stocks than his predecessor, one undeniable trait shared by Buffett and Abel is their unwavering desire to get a good deal. Though Buffett bent or broke several of his unwritten investing rules as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO, he never chased a stock that he didn't feel was attractively valued.
The problem with today's stock market is that finding a good deal is challenging.
In a 2001 interview with Fortune magazine, Warren Buffett referred to the price-to-GDP ratio (now known as the Buffett indicator) as "probably the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment." When backtested to December 1970, this measure, which divides the market value of all U.S. stocks by U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), has averaged 88%. On Aug. 12, the Buffett indicator hit an all-time high of 240.32%!
Stock Market reaches most expensive valuation in history after the Warren Buffett Indicator hits 239%, surpassing the Dot Com Bubble, the Global Financial Crisis, and the 2022 Bear Market 🤯 👀 pic.twitter.com/K5LBAN6S2Q
-- Barchart (@Barchart) August 15, 2026
Buffett's and Abel's $175 billion in net selling since October 2022 is an actions-speak-louder-than-words warning that stock market valuations aren't sustainable. The last time the S&P 500's (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) Shiller Price-to-Earnings Ratio was this high was in the lead-up to the bursting of the dot-com bubble.
Even though both of Berkshire's bosses rightly remain long-term optimists -- and there's no reason not to be, given the multidecade performance of the S&P 500 -- their $175 billion warning rightly echoes through Wall Street.
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Sean Williams has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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