Michael Burry, the investor best known for his early bet against the US housing market before the 2008 crash, has turned publicly bearish on Berkshire Hathaway, arguing that the conglomerate lost something essential when Warren Buffett handed the reins to Greg Abel at the start of 2026.
My biggest fear for Berkshire Hathaway was that when Warren finally stepped down, the successor would be too old and otherwise not Warren, so would not have his patience for the fat pitch. I believe this fear has come true. I do not find Berkshire an attractive investment going forward.
Burry posted the comment on August 9, 2026, tying his skepticism directly to Berkshire's recent numbers rather than sentiment alone. Finbold reported that he cited the company's reduced cash reserves in the most recent quarter as evidence that current leadership is deploying capital with less discipline than Buffett historically showed while waiting for what he called the “fat pitch.”
The Numbers Behind the Skepticism
Berkshire's Class B shares are up 5.02% year-to-date through August 10, 2026, well behind the S&P 500's 13.11% gain over the same stretch — a roughly 8-percentage-point lag that has persisted even as the stock rallied 6% since late July. That underperformance comes despite operating earnings that are still growing: Berkshire posted $12.98 billion in operating earnings for the second quarter of 2026, up from $11.16 billion a year earlier.
My biggest fear for Berskhire Hathaway was that when Warren finally stepped down, the successor would be too old and otherwise not Warren, so would not have his patience for the fat pitch.
— Cassandra Unchained (@michaeljburry) August 10, 2026
I believe this fear has come true. I do not find Berkshire an attractive investment going…
Abel's Break From the Buffett Playbook
The cash-deployment shift Burry is reacting to is real and marks a deliberate change in direction. Abel ended a 14-quarter selling streak this year, repurchasing roughly $4.5 billion of Berkshire's own stock in the second quarter alone and directing about $10 billion into Alphabet, Google's parent company — Berkshire's first major new equity position under the new CEO. Supporters read that as Abel finally putting the firm's cash pile to work; Burry's read is closer to the opposite, framing it as evidence the discipline to wait no longer holds.
Related: Wall Street's 'Magnificent Seven' Mentions Drop 70% From Peak
The disagreement lands at a moment when big, well-known names are already under unusual scrutiny from investors more willing to bet against them than in past cycles — a dynamic playing out even among the market's most crowded trades, as mentions of the so-called Magnificent Seven have themselves fallen sharply from their peak. Berkshire, long treated as a haven from that kind of speculative churn, is now getting pulled into the same debate over whether its recent strength reflects renewed conviction or a rally running ahead of the fundamentals.
For now, Berkshire's stock recently touched a 52-week high, giving Abel's supporters a data point of their own. Whether that holds up against Burry's read on the succession will likely take more than one more earnings cycle to settle.
