Alphabet Setback Meets Record Run: Berkshire's November Reckoning Nears

Berkshire Hathaway's stake in Alphabet has turned into an awkward subplot just as the conglomerate prepares to report third-quarter 2026 results. Alphabet's latest quarterly figures fell short of both revenue and earnings expectations, Reuters reported, and the stock came under heavy pressure in after-hours trading. Because the Alphabet holding ranks among Berkshire's largest equity positions alongside Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Bank of America, the miss lands on a core portfolio building block rather than a peripheral bet.

Barron's flagged that Berkshire is likely to book a loss on the position, though the exact average purchase price is not public. That gap leaves any loss estimate uncertain — the share-price decline alone cannot pin down the hit to Berkshire's books, which is why the report frames the outcome as a probability rather than a confirmed figure. The stake itself carries historical weight: it was Warren Buffett's final major stock purchase during his tenure as chairman.

Buybacks and fresh purchases raise the stakes

The Alphabet wobble arrives during a busier phase of capital deployment under CEO Greg Abel. Berkshire repurchased roughly $4.5 billion of its own shares in the second quarter of 2026 while also acquiring close to $20 billion in equities over the same stretch. Abel justified restarting buybacks — which had already resumed in the first quarter — by pointing to an estimated intrinsic value above the market price. The return of capital to shareholders in the second quarter was the largest since 2021.

That combination puts both external holdings and the company's own valuation under scrutiny. The Alphabet position illustrates the price risk embedded in recent investments: deploying more capital offers no protection against setbacks in individual holdings, and a single quarter's reaction says little about whether the purchases will pay off over time.

A record share price and a raised target

Sentiment on the stock itself has been running hot. Bloomberg reported on 21 October that Berkshire's B-shares had surpassed their previous peak set on 2 May 2025, reading the move as a sign that investors are moving past Buffett's departure. A record price reflects confidence, but it does not certify operating performance — market valuation and business results deserve separate scorecards, and the upcoming release provides the next concrete occasion to compare them.

UBS added a further vote of confidence about a week ago, lifting its price target on the B-shares from $604 to $628 while keeping its buy rating. A target remains an assessment, not a guaranteed price or a forecast for the coming earnings report; it complements the record run rather than substituting for hard numbers.

Bending Spoons adds investment context

Capital allocation decisions form part of the backdrop too. Roughly two weeks ago Berkshire agreed to invest an additional $330 million in Bending Spoons through a private placement of 10 million shares at $33 each — an agreement that describes a committed investment and its terms, distinct from an already-completed top-up. Berkshire had previously put $600 million into Bending Spoons' July IPO, and media reports indicated the additional stake would lift its holding to around 4%.

Two dates, two sets of expectations

Scheduling around the earnings release has been reported inconsistently: one account points to 2 November for the third-quarter 2026 figures, while another cites 7 November. Either way, Zacks projects revenue of $97.3 billion, up 2.5% year on year, alongside a decline in per-share earnings. The consensus stands at $5.91 per share, a drop of 5.6%. Berkshire has beaten Zacks' earnings estimate in three of the past four quarters.

The picture that emerges is deliberately mixed — rising revenue, falling profit — and investors face two separate tests: how the business performed in the quarter, and whether the recent capital allocation is proving itself. The suspected Alphabet loss sharpens attention on the second without settling anything about the company as a whole. What matters when the numbers land is not the share-price reaction alone, but what Berkshire actually reports.