UnitedHealth Stock Rallies on Earnings: Warren Buffett Successor's Nine-Figure Mistake

Shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH ) are soaring Thursday morning after the company posted second-quarter financial results that beat analyst estimates and provided guidance above estimates.

This is good news for existing UnitedHealth shareholders and not so good news for shareholders who may have cashed out before the surge, including Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK ) (NYSE: BRK ).

Berkshire Hathaway’s Missed Opportunity Berkshire Hathaway initiated a position in UnitedHealth stock back in the second quarter of 2025, buying up 5,039,564 shares.

That position came at a time when Warren Buffett still served as CEO of the conglomerate.

The position in UnitedHealth stock held steady through the third and fourth quarters of 2025, keeping the exact same number of shares the same.

A 13F filing for the first quarter of 2026, the first with Buffett successor Greg Abel as CEO, showed the position was completely sold off.

That means Abel and company decided to sell the entire position in UnitedHealth some time in the first quarter.

UnitedHealth stock traded between $248.88 and $606.36 per share in the second quarter of 2025 shares were bought.

Given Buffett’s often value-oriented approach, it’s more likely shares were bought on the lower side, closer to $248.88.

Based on the 5,039,564 UNH shares purchased by Berkshire Hathaway, the purchase amounts would have been in a range of $1,254,246,688.32 to $3,055,790,027.04 based on the lowest and highest prices for the shares in the second quarter.

UnitedHealth stock traded between $255.97 and $357.87 in the first quarter.

This means shares were sold in a range of $1,289,977,197.08 to $1,803,508,768.68, likely taking a loss on the position or a minimal gain.

Fast forward to today and shares are trading at $450.16.

Had Abel and company kept the UnitedHealth shares, they would be worth $2,268,610,130.24 today.

This means that Berkshire Hathaway missed out on anywhere from $465,101,360.56 to $978,632,933.16 by selling shares in the first quarter and not holding until today.

Read Also: EXCLUSIVE: Berkshire’s Alphabet, UnitedHealth Buys Show CEO Greg Abel Is Expanding the Playbook, Expert Says What’s Next for Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway stock continues to underperform the broader S&P 500 Index, tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY ).

Berkshire stock is down 2.1% year-to-date in 2026, while SPY shares are up 10.3% over the same time period.

The first quarter filing saw Berkshire Hathaway make many notable changes, taking the overall positions from 42 down to 29.

This included selling shares of several long-term holdings of Buffett and taking new stakes in Delta Air Lines, Macy’s and Alphabet.

Time will tell if the changes or the company large cash balance of nearly $400 billion can help turn things around under new leadership.

Read Also: Warren Buffett Takes Credit for Berkshire’s Alphabet Stock Buy: ‘I Initiated It’ Photo: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock