Catenaa, Saturday, March 28, 2026- Berkshire Hathaway stock suffers its longest losing streak in more than 7 years, declining 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 have hit.
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 end 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 US, 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.”
The company had already been building its positions for twelve months when Buffett initially revealed the stakes in August 2020. It’s been adding to the positions since then.
In just the last 52 weeks, they are up between 42% and 124%, with a total market value of more than $44 billion.
