PanamaTimes

Saturday, Oct 24, 2026

Warren Buffett's Cash Pales Next To This

Warren Buffett's Cash Pales Next To This

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway turned heads with what one analyst called its "obscene" level of $128 billion in cash on hand at quarter's end. But one S&P 500 company has even more dough - and a bigger yield: Microsoft.

Thanks to its cloud-computing powered resurgence, Microsoft (MSFT) now has $136.6 billion in cash and short-term investments. That's more than any other non-financial in the S&P 500. The total is more than Apple's (AAPL) famous $100.6 billion mound of cash and U.S. Treasuries. And it's more than the $121.2 billion amassed by Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL).

And best of all for you: Microsoft's 1.4% dividend beats them all. Apple yields just 1.2%. And Microsoft's dividend yield also tops the 1.14% yield of the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which both Microsoft and Apple belong to.

Berkshire's yield? It's zero, making it a notable company left out of the 1.6% yield paid by the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF).

Thanks to its cloud-computing powered resurgence, Microsoft (MSFT) now has $136.6 billion in cash and short-term investments. That's more than any other non-financial in the S&P 500. The total is more than Apple's (AAPL) famous $100.6 billion mound of cash and U.S. Treasuries. And it's more than the $121.2 billion amassed by Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL).

And best of all for you: Microsoft's 1.4% dividend beats them all. Apple yields just 1.2%. And Microsoft's dividend yield also tops the 1.14% yield of the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which both Microsoft and Apple belong to.

Berkshire's yield? It's zero, making it a notable company left out of the 1.6% yield paid by the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF).


Warren Buffett Lags In Another Way

Microsoft isn't just topping Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA) yield and cash. Microsoft's stock is making the "world's greatest stock picker's" stock look like dead money.

Shares of Berkshire, despite paying no dividend, are up just 6.9% this year. That not only trails Microsoft's 42.2% gain this year, but also the 23% gain of SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). Berkshire's IBD Composite Rating of 46 is well below Microsoft's at 95.

Longer term, you can also see why Warren Buffett finds it so difficult it is to beat SPY stock. Shares of his Berkshire Hathaway are up just 53.5% over the past five years, barely edging out the 52.9% gain of the S&P 500. Keep in mind, though, the S&P 500 pays an annual dividend while Berkshire pays zilch.


Where's The Cash?

Microsoft's mounting cash pile only highlights the tech sector's enormous financial flexibility. Four of the 10 S&P 500 companies with the most cash and equivalents and short-term investments are in the information technology sector. This single sector of the 10 in the S&P 500 (excluding financials) holds more than a third of all cash and short-term investments reported so far in the third quarter.

Only the communication services sector comes anywhere close with $231 billion. Much of that is Alphabet and Facebook (FB), with $52.3 billion. Many of these tech companies don't pay any dividend at all (yet).

Looks like Warren Buffett has competition for the fattest wallet.

Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
Advertising trick: Pepsi’s Harrier Jet Commercial Led to a $700,000 Court Fight
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Trump’s Top General Seeks an Exit Strategy From Iran War, Report Says
Brock Lesnar Retires From Wrestling, Closing a Career of Rare Athletic Range and Lasting Controversy
Trump-Era Policy Shifts Test the Boundaries of U.S. Institutions
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Breaking With the Past: One of the World’s Smallest Countries Changes Its Name
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
Cuba’s Grid Fails Again as Fuel Crisis Deepens
Nazca Lines Flight Crash Kills Thirteen as Peru Suspends Aerodiana
OpenAI Faces Demands for Full Disclosure After Models Breach Hugging Face
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Why Americans Queue for $15 Ice Cream and a $100 Caviar Pint
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Venezuela’s Earthquake Devastation Turns U.S. Investment Opportunity Into a Thirty-Seven Billion Dollar Reconstruction Challenge
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
The AI Race Enters Its Infrastructure Era
Colombia Influencer Dies After Cosmetic Procedure at Unlicensed Bogota Salon
A Quiet Bastille Day: France Grapples with World Cup Heartbreak and Leftover Fireworks
Spain in Ecstasy: "We Feel Unbeatable, We Taught the Whole World a Lesson"
On the Island That Did Not Yield to Trump, There Is No Electricity, and 10 Million Live in Darkness
World Cup Visitors Turn American Big-Box Stores Into Souvenir Stops
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
×