Berkshire rebounds in June but still lags the S&P 500 in 2026

Berkshire Hathaway has made up some ground, but its stock is still trailing the broader market in 2026. For everyday investors, the gap shows how a diversified holding company can lag when a tech-heavy rally lifts the S&P 500.

CNBC reported that Berkshire’s B shares are down 1.8% year to date with 2026 a little more than halfway finished. The S&P 500, the broad benchmark of large U.S. stocks, is up 10.7% over the same stretch, giving the index a 12.4 percentage point lead. Including dividends, which are cash payments some companies return to shareholders, the S&P 500 is up 11.4%, CNBC said. That puts its advantage over Berkshire at 13.1 percentage points.

Berkshire narrowed the gap in June. CNBC said a stronger month for the stock erased almost one-third of the 17.5 percentage point deficit Berkshire had versus the S&P 500 as of June 1. That had been Berkshire’s widest lag of the year so far.

Why the gap opened

The second quarter and the first 10 days that followed were difficult for Berkshire on a relative basis. CNBC reported that Berkshire gained a little more than 3% over that period, while the S&P 500 advanced 16% in a rally driven by technology stocks.

That move wiped out Berkshire’s narrow lead from the end of March, when the company had been ahead of the S&P 500 by 1.8 percentage points, according to CNBC. A percentage point compares two percentages directly, so a move from a 1.8-point lead to a double-digit deficit reflects a clear shift in relative performance.

The pattern is not new for Berkshire. CNBC reported that in 2025, Berkshire trailed the S&P 500 by 5.5 percentage points when dividends were excluded. With dividends counted, the gap was 7.0 percentage points.

Berkshire’s balance sheet remains in focus

CNBC’s Berkshire stock data listed Berkshire’s Class A shares at $739,750 and its B shares at $493.71. The company’s market capitalization was listed at about $1.06 trillion, and the B shares had a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70. A price-to-earnings ratio compares a company’s stock price with its profits over the past 12 months.

Berkshire held $397.4 billion in cash as of March 31, up 6.5% from Dec. 31, according to CNBC’s stock watch figures. Excluding rail cash and subtracting Treasury bill payables, CNBC listed cash at $380.2 billion, up 3.0% from the end of 2025. Berkshire also repurchased $234 million of its own stock in the first quarter of 2026, CNBC reported.

Abel and Weschler seen at Sun Valley

Berkshire CEO Greg Abel and portfolio manager Ted Weschler were also present at Allen & Co.’s invitation-only media and technology conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, according to CNBC. Forbes listed them as attendees, and CNBC and Reuters photos showed them at the event.

The Sun Valley gathering draws high-profile executives and investors. CNBC noted that other names at this year’s conference include Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman.

Warren Buffett attended the conference for decades, but CNBC reported that he has not gone in the past few years. At the 1999 Sun Valley conference, Buffett warned that although the internet would transform business, investors were setting expectations too high, according to CNBC’s account of his earlier remarks.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.