The S&P 500 has climbed 10.7% in 2026, leaving Berkshire Hathaway's B shares 12.4 percentage points behind despite a strong June. Including dividends, the benchmark's lead widens to 13.1 points.
The S&P 500 heads into the second half of 2026 with a 10.7% year-to-date gain, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has struggled to keep pace. Berkshire's B shares are down 1.8% so far this year, leaving them 12.4 percentage points behind the index. With dividends counted, the benchmark is up 11.4%, stretching its lead to 13.1 percentage points.
A tech-driven quarter widened the gap
Much of the S&P 500's advance came in the second quarter, where the index posted a tech-driven 16% gain. Berkshire returned a bit more than 3% over the same stretch, which erased what had been a slim 1.8 percentage point lead at the end of March.
June offered Berkshire some relief. The month erased almost a third of its 17.5 percentage point deficit as of June 1, its biggest losing margin of the year so far. Even so, the benchmark's edge remained wide.
The lag extends a pattern from last year
Berkshire's underperformance is not new. Last year, it trailed the S&P 500 by 5.5 percentage points excluding dividends, a deficit that widened to 7.0 percentage points once dividends were included.
The company's B shares last traded at $493.71, with a market capitalization reported at $1,064,452,706,579. June trimmed part of that deficit, yet the index still holds a double-digit lead.
Source: CNBC
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