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Small business sentiment fell again in October as the U.S. government shutdown and hiring difficulties raised worries among owners.

Key Takeaways

• A monthly survey of small business owners showed optimism declined in October for the second straight month to its lowest levels since April, with respondents citing worries over the government shutdown.
• Small businesses reported difficulties hiring qualified candidates, while sales and profit levels were also lower in October.

An end to the government shutdown may be coming just in time for small businesses, who are reporting hiring difficulties, slower sales and weaker profits amid the work stoppage, a closely watched survey of business owners showed.

“The shutdown will be resolved by year-end, hopefully sooner, but until then our economic measures will show weak economic growth expectations, slowing sales, and weak job growth,” said the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in a report on its monthly survey of small businesses. “Owners are resilient but it won’t be pleasant until the shutdown is ended and the government gets back to business.”

The NFIB Small Business Index declined slightly to 98.2 in October, dropping for the second straight month and remaining just above the survey’s 52-year average. It’s the lowest reading for the survey since April’s tariffs announcements.

Why this Matters for You

Small businesses make up a significant portion of the U.S. economy and can account for as much as 60% of new job creation. Therefore, small business owner sentiment can have a meaningful impact on hiring and overall economic conditions.

The survey results come as the U.S. government shutdown extended into its 42nd day, creating uncertainty over economic data and putting pressure on the nation’s air travel system. On Monday, the Senate passed a spending measure that would end the work stoppage, with the House of Representatives expected to vote on the measure on Wednesday.

“Although outlooks are still brighter than before the 2024 election, a lack of qualified labor combined with deteriorating sales and profits appeared to weigh on economic expectations,” wrote Wells Fargo economists Jackie Benson and Ali Hajibeigi.

Nearly nine of 10 owners reported being unable to find qualified employees for open positions. Labor quality was the single most important problem facing small business owners, the survey found, and especially within the construction industry, where almost half of small business owners said they had jobs they couldn’t fill.

The portion of owners reporting higher sales dropped by six points in October, while the number reporting higher profits fell by nine points. Commentary from business owners included in the report showed that health insurance costs were a growing problem.

Despite the declines, the number of businesses expecting sales to improve remained positive, while plans for capital expenditures reached their highest levels of the year.

Business owners also said economic conditions were steadier in October. The survey’s uncertainty index fell 12 points to a reading of 88, the lowest of a year marked by questions over tariffs and other changes to the business environment. 

The survey also showed that inflation was cooling for small businesses, as the number of owners raising prices in October or planning to raise prices in the next three months both declined.

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Nvidia's stock remains widely held as investors debate the dangers of an AI "bubble"

Key Takeaways

• SoftBank on Tuesday said it raised nearly $6 billion selling its stake of Nvidia shares.
• But it's using those and other funds to invest in OpenAI, so the Japanese company isn't getting out of the AI business.

SoftBank is out of Nvidia stock—but not the AI trade.

The Japanese company in a Tuesday statement said it sold 32.1 million shares of chip giant Nvidia (NVDA), a "complete sale," in October, raising $5.83 billion. That comes to an average price of just under $182, below Monday's $199.05 per share close. (It also reported $9.17 billion in proceeds on sales of T-Mobile (TMUS) between June and September.)

Nvidia's shares hit their latest record high of $212 in late October, but investors more recently have shown signs of wariness about valuations and the health of the AI trade. That's shown up in today's action, too; Nvidia's stock was down more than 3% in midday trading, more than broader markets.

But SoftBank isn't pulling back from AI investments. It put billions of dollars into OpenAI earlier this year, making the ChatGPT owner the world's most-valuable startup, and that appears to be behind some of the company's latest investment moves; The company last month committed more than $22 billion in additional funding to OpenAI.

Why This Matters to Investors

Traders trying to time an AI bubble don't have it easy, and today's Nvidia news illustrates why. It might be tempting to read SoftBank's sale of Nvidia shares as a bearish signal—but the move is meant to raise money to fund investments in OpenAI.

“We are making large investments in OpenAI,” The Wall Street Journal quoted SoftBank CFO Yoshimitsu Goto as saying today. “To do that, we have to use some of our existing assets to raise funds.”

Investors trying to connect the dots these days don't have an easy job. Concerns about AI-stock valuations have weighed on shares lately, with some analysts suggesting shorting the hyperscalers whose spending has driven business and share prices this year. The word "bubble" has been in pretty heavy use in recent weeks.

But elsewhere in the trade, investors continue to look for opportunities to push some shares in the food chain higher. Yesterday, for example, it was memory and data-storage stocks. And interest in the big names has hardly dried up; Nvidia, for example, was held by more than three-quarters of active fund managers in October, according to a Bank of America analysis.

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Tesla shareholders last week voted to approve a big new pay package for CEO Elon Musk.

Key Takeaways

• News services overnight reported declining Tesla sales and market value in China, though also an increase in shipments from China to other markets.
• Investor focus isn't likely to shift entirely back to vehicle sales after a shareholder vote that marked a turning of the page to other ventures, but car sales still matter to the business.

Talking about Tesla's auto sales just a few days after a $1 trillion vote might seem odd—but while they might not be the most interesting thing about the company these days, they still matter.

Reuters and other news services overnight reported that Tesla's (TSLA) October auto sales in China fell to their lowest level in three years, about 26,000, citing the China Passenger Car Association. The reports indicated sliding market share in China, though also rising shipments of Teslas made in China to other markets.

That's weighing a bit on Tesla's shares, which were recently down more than 2% as broader markets inched lower in early trading. (Read Investopedia's full live coverage of today's trading here.) But investor attention is largely elsewhere: The shares jumped yesterday alongside U.S. stocks, lifted by optimism about a possible end to the government shutdown, and late last week they retreated in part on a sell-the-news reaction to a shareholder vote approving a big new pay package for CEO Elon Musk.

Why This Matters to Tesla Investors

Shares of Tesla were recently falling more than the broader market, slipping following news reports suggesting demand issues in China. Tesla investors have lately focused on broader questions in the wake of a shareholder vote meant to keep CEO Elon Musk around and in charge for a while, but vehicle sales still matter.

The vote removed a possible overhang—will Musk stick around for the next phase of Tesla's growth or won't he?—and formalized the company's commitment to a set of targets upon which the CEO's payout hinges. Several of them signal Tesla's commitment to evolution into a business powered by robotaxis and robots.

But car sales remain important. For one, they still make up the lion's share of Tesla's revenue. And one of the targets requires the company to deliver a total of 20 million vehicles; another requires 10 million active subscriptions to Tesla's self-driving software, which can't happen without vehicle sales.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, investors still care about the "old-school" Tesla business. Deliveries in the latest quarter came in higher than expected, though the expiration of U.S. subsidies likely pulled forward demand for it and other automakers.

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A shopper checks food prices at Walmart. A meal deal that fueled debate over inflation is sparking a discussion about how it’s really measured.

Key Takeaways

• The cost of Thanksgiving dinner became a point of dispute last week after President Donald Trump used a Walmart special as evidence that his economic policies are pushing down prices.
  
• Walmart has reduced the price of its holiday bundle, but also decreased the number of items in it, making it virtually meaningless to compare prices from year to year.
  

A controversy over Thanksgiving dinner highlights why inflation is typically measured using broad-based indexes rather than individual prices.

The dustup began last month when Walmart announced the pricing of its Thanksgiving meal deal, which allowed customers to buy the ingredients for an entire holiday dinner for 10 for under $4 per person—the lowest since the retailer began offering the bundle in 2021. (Many of the items are currently sold out.) That was cheaper per person than in 2024 when the deal fed eight for under $7 each.

President Donald Trump used the deal to make his case to voters that his administration is reducing the cost of living. Widespread dissatisfaction with inflation during former President Joe Biden's term in office contributed to Trump's win in the 2020 election. However, the tables have turned now, with Democratic politicians criticizing the administration's economic policies for pushing prices higher.

Both sides have been able to use price tags to make their case, illustrating why economists instead use carefully compiled statistics such as the Consumer Price Index to get a clear idea of how the cost of living is changing over time.

What This Means For The Economy

To get more signal and less noise about the actual cost of living, experts look at broad-based indexes of consumer prices instead of tracking prices on individual items.

Feast or Famine

Trump touted the Walmart price reduction last week, speaking to reporters at a press conference.

"Thanksgiving this year will cost 25% less than Thanksgiving last year under Sleepy Joe Biden. So that's a big difference," He said. "25% less Thanksgiving."

Trump's comments provoked a barrage of fact-checking from journalists and economists. An Associated Press article noted that the 2025 meal deal included fewer items and, in some cases, replaced name-brand selections with discount store brands. In other words, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison.

Later, Trump roasted an NBC reporter who asked him about the discrepancy, calling the network "fake news."

The White House found reinforcements in its food fight Monday when meal delivery service DoorDash released its own report on food prices showing the cost of a "breakfast basics index" of three eggs, a glass of milk, a bagel, and an avocado had fallen 14% since March. The White House highlighted the findings in a press release.

The report, however, also showed the pitfalls of cherry-picking individual prices. The breakfast index was only down 1.7% over the 12 months ending in September, rather than the six-month time frame, mainly due to fluctuations in egg prices stemming from last year's bird flu outbreak.

Basket Case

Economists and policymakers typically rely on measures of inflation, such as the Consumer Price Index, when assessing how the cost of living is changing, to cut through the noise of individual prices rising and falling. To calculate the CPI, statisticians at the Bureau of Labor Statistics gather thousands of prices each month by calling businesses, looking at websites, and visiting stores.

The prices represent a "basket" of goods and services purchased by a typical consumer, and are given different statistical weights according to their importance in household budgets. For instance, housing makes up about a third of the CPI since it is by far the largest expense most people pay each month.

The overall CPI is up 3% over the past year. The CPI for groceries, specifically, was up 2.7% over the year in September. That's higher than the Federal Reserve's goal of 2% inflation but far lower than the recent peak of inflation in 2022, when the CPI for groceries was up 13.6% in a single year.

News of the day for Nov. 11, 2025

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Major stock indexes closed sharply higher on Monday after losing ground last week.

Stock futures are lower this morning following a big tech-fueled rally on Monday amid hopes that the federal government shutdown is set to end soon; the Senate late Monday passed legislation to fund the government through January, sending the measure to the House of Representatives; CoreWeave (CRWV) shares are plunging after its full-year revenue projections came up short of analysts' expectations; and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is expected to provide important AI updates at its financial analyst day event. Here's what you need to know today.

1. S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Slip After Monday's Rally

Stock futures are down slightly after major market indexes soared to begin the week on optimism about developments in Congress that indicate the six-week U.S. government shutdown is nearing an end. Futures tied to the tech-focused Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 were recently down 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, while Dow Jones Industrial futures ticked higher. Bitcoin was trading at around $104,600, down from an overnight high of above $107,000. Gold futures were up 0.5% at $4,145 an ounce, adding to the previous session's big gains and trading near a three-week high. The bond market is closed Tuesday in commemoration of the Veterans Day federal holiday.

2. Senate Passes Funding Bill That Could Bring Shutdown to an End

The Senate on Monday passed legislation that would fund the government through January, which could bring an end to the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The bill passed on a 60-40 vote and will now head to the House of Representatives. President Donald Trump has said he supports the funding legislation. The shutdown, now in its 42nd day, has choked off government economic reports and led to flight delays amid staffing issues with air traffic controllers. A vote in the House on the legislation could come as early at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

3. CoreWeave Shares Fall After Revenue Guidance Misses Estimates

Shares of cloud computing company CoreWeave (CRWV) are tumbling in premarket trading after the Nvidia partner issued disappointing guidance. CoreWeave reported that its third-quarter revenue jumped 134% to $1.36 billion, slightly above projections of $1.3 billion, according to analysts tracked by Visible Alpha. The company’s adjusted losses per share of 22 cents also came in better than the analyst consensus of a 35 cents-per-share loss. However, the company said it sees 2025 revenue coming in between $5.05 billion and $5.15 billion, below the consensus of $5.29 billion. CoreWeave shares, which have more than doubled since the company’s initial public offering in March, were down 9% ahead of the bell Tuesday.

4. AMD Expected to Provide Updates on AI Roadmap

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is set to hold its first-ever financial analyst day on Tuesday, and investors will be watching for updated financial targets from the chipmaker. Last week, AMD posted record quarterly results and issued an upbeat outlook on surging demand for its data center chips. CEO Lisa Su is widely expected to offer more details on the company’s artificial intelligence roadmap at today's event, which is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. ET. AMD shares were down slightly in premarket trading after rising more than 4% on Monday. You can watch the live stream of the AMD event here.

5. Why Warren Buffett Isn't Selling His Berkshire Shares Just Yet

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, in a letter to shareholders on Monday, sought to allay investor concerns about his upcoming retirement and instill confidence in his successor, Greg Abel. Buffett said he plans to keep a “significant” number of Berkshire’s Class A shares until shareholders “develop the comfort” with Abel, who will take over as CEO at the end of this year. Buffett, who has helmed the conglomerate for 60 years, said in the letter that he converted 1,800 “A” shares—worth about $1.3 billion—to “B” shares, which were donated to four family-run foundations. He also said he will no longer be writing the company’s annual report or “speak endlessly” at the annual meeting, but he will continue to write an annual Thanksgiving letter. Berkshire (BRK.A, BRK.B) shares have fallen 8% since Buffett announced in May that he would be stepping down at the end of this year. They ticked higher in premarket trading Tuesday.

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Border crossings have slowed, but some economists say the impact to the labor force has been overstated.

Key Takeaways

• The immigrant workforce is still growing faster than native-born population, despite a crackdown on the border and mass deportations, according to private-sector data.
  
• The decline of immigrant workers in official statistics may reflect the population's fear of answering government surveys.
  
• Revelio Labs analyzed profiles of workers on Linkedin and other job sites, determining whether people were immigrants based on where their first job was, where they went to school, and what languages they spoke.
  

Immigration may be down, but it's still powering the growth of the U.S. workforce, according to data from the private sector.

Despite President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration and a highly-publicized mass deportation campaign, the immigrant workforce is still growing at a faster rate than the native-born population, according to a recent report by Revelio Labs, a data analytics company.

Since 2021, the number of foreign-born workers has grown 4% per year, while the number of native-born workers has climbed 1.2% annually in the same period. And despite a slowdown after Trump took office in 2025, foreign-born workers continue to enter the workforce at a faster rate than their native-born counterparts.

What This Means For The Economy

If immigration hasn't fallen as much as official statistics say, then the economy needs to create far more jobs than it currently is producing to prevent unemployment from rising.

Revelio's data is the latest of several reports to cast doubt on a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed the immigrant workforce decreased by 2.2 million between January and July of 2025. Trump's immigration crackdown certainly has reduced border crossings. But economists Loujaina Abdelwahed and Lisa K. Simon at Revelio, among others, doubt that millions of people disappeared in a matter of months. Instead, they speculate, many immigrants simply stopped answering government surveys.

"Many immigrants no longer feel safe sharing information with the government, leaving official data volatile and highly misleading," they wrote.

Revelio's data doesn't rely on surveys, but on professional profiles on LinkedIn and other job sites that are less vulnerable to survey bias. The economists determined whether people were foreign-born based on the location of the first job, where they went to school, and the languages they speak.

If the data is accurate, it would suggest the U.S. needs to add more jobs each month to prevent the unemployment rate from rising, a point of disagreement among economists who use different assumptions about immigration levels.

Revelio says the U.S. needs to add 32,000 to 97,000 jobs each month to break even. However, economists at the American Enterprise Institute recently estimated that the figure is much lower, between 10,000 and 40,000 a month.

In August, the U.S. economy added 22,000 jobs, meaning that under Revelio's assumptions, the job market was deteriorating, whereas it could be holding steady if the AEI's assumptions are right.

David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Advanced Micro Devices shares have roughly doubled in value in 2025 so far.

Key Takeaways

• Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices is set to hold its first analyst day event tomorrow.
• CEO Lisa Su could offer more details on the company’s AI roadmap at the event.

Traders may be watching for updated financial targets from Advanced Micro Devices as it hosts an investor day, its first, later today.

AMD's (AMD) shares climbed Monday ahead of the event, which some analysts have suggested could be a positive catalyst for the chipmaker's stock. The shares added about 5% to close near $244 as broader markets gained amid optimism Congress could be nearing a deal to end the U.S. government shutdown.

Analysts at Bank of America, Citi, and Jefferies said they'll be watching for an updated outlook and financial targets from AMD's analyst day event. CEO Lisa Su is widely expected offer more details on the company’s artificial intelligence roadmap. (You can watch the stream, scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, here.)

A bigger estimate of AMD's total addressable market, thanks to booming AI demand, might help boost confidence in the stock, the analysts said, following a strong run this year driven lately by a string of big AI deals, including one with ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

Why This Is Significant

The reaction to AMD's updates today could bolster its upward trajectory or underscore growing uncertainty around AI stocks, as a muted reaction to the chipmaker's strong earnings last week did.

Last week, AMD posted record quarterly results and an upbeat outlook on surging demand for its data center chips, though the stock was little changed following the results amid some worries about an AI bubble.

Heading into the event, Wall Street analysts lean more bullish on the stock, with seven of the 10 with current ratings compiled by Visible Alpha calling it a "buy," compared to three neutral ratings. Their mean target around $269 would suggest nearly 10% upside from Monday's close.

With Monday's gains, shares of AMD have roughly doubled in value in 2025.

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Wall Street analysts' outlooks for bitcoin show a range of possible outcomes in the next few weeks

Key Takeaways

• Bullish bitcoin price targets for the year-end range from $120,000 to $200,000, suggesting upside, with analysts saying the worst of October's derivatives-linked rout in crypto markets is in the rearview mirror.
• Crypto-linked stocks Coinbase Global and Robinhood got a lift Monday, while MicroStrategy is flat.

The price of bitcoin is edging upward again. Its latest slide hasn't scared off the bulls, who are out with new upbeat targets as the coin tests a recovery.

The price of the world's most well-known cryptocurrency may soon return to previous highs, Wall Street analysts say. Their 2025 outlooks for bitcoin (BTCUSD) range from about $120,000 to $200,000, a gap that reflects uncertainty about the near-term outlook but also expresses the belief that the worst of the recent sell-off is behind us.

There isn’t, however, unanimity about what could drive prices higher. Some crypto watchers have said that the possibility that the U.S. government shutdown could come to an end is bullish for bitcoin and other risk assets. Others have suggested that more reasons for investor caution could push investors back toward bitcoin as a hedge against uncertainty.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU

Bitcoin appears to be at a crossroads, now that the negativity triggered by the Oct. 10 crash, is fading. However, it also seems to be lacking a clear set of catalysts that would draw sidelined investors back in.

Bitcoin prices, which last week touched levels below $100,000 for the first time in months, appear to be bouncing in the last 24 hours, recently touching levels around $106,000, according to research platform Messari. So are some other crypto bets: Solana (SOLUSD) is recovering at a faster pace than other altcoins, up compared to ether's (ETHUSD) sideways crawl as of Monday afternoon. Crypto-linked stocks are also getting a lift, albeit unevenly, with Coinbase Global (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) jumping more than 3% while Strategy (MSTR), which is down slightly.

Fundstrat's Tom Lee, something of a risk-asset permabull, told CNBC last week that the S&P 500 could reach 7500 by the end of the year. He also said he expects bitcoin to jump back to its record highs, with the Oct. 10 crash and its ripple effects fading. "I still think we can get to $150,000 to $200,000 for bitcoin and something like $7,000 for ethereum," Lee said. "At the beginning of the year, the firm set its 2025 price target for bitcoin at $175,000.

Crypto-focused financial services firm Galaxy last week lowered its year-end target to $120,000 from $185,000, saying the Oct. 10 wipeout "materially damaged the bull market trends." Galaxy's head of research Alex Thorn wrote in a note last week that while he remains bullish over the long term, that bitcoin has entered a "maturity era," marked by institutional adoption, passive flows from spot ETFs, and lower volatility.

"If bitcoin can maintain the ~$100k level, we believe the almost three-year bull market will remain structurally intact, though the pace of future gains may be slower," he said.

Cathie Wood, Ark Invest's CEO, has shaved $300,000 off her 2030 bitcoin price target to $1.2 million from a previous $1.5 million. Wood told CNBC last week that stablecoins are fulfilling a role in payments and remittances, a function she previously expected bitcoin to play.

And JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, reiterated his view that bitcoin prices could rise on the premise of what he called "debasement trade,"noting that much of the derivatives-related pressure related to the mid-October pullback—when more than $19 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated—now appears to have eased.

Based on the difference between bitcoin's price and the firm's volatility-adjusted comparison to gold prices, the digital asset should theoretically reach a price near $170,000, he said in a note last week.

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Palantir was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 Monday

Key Takeaways

• A defense tech darling's stock surged on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025, amid hopes that the government may reopen soon, while comments from President Trump calling for changes to healthcare payments dragged on insurers.
  
• Palantir Technologies shares powered higher, as the software firm stands to benefit if the government shutdown comes to an end.
  
• Shares of Centene and other health insurers tumbled after Trump suggested that federal healthcare money should circumvent insurers and go directly to people.

A data analytics software giant got a boost from hopes that its major client, the federal government, could be on its way toward returning to business as usual. Meanwhile, health insurers came under pressure following comments from President Donald Trump about changing the process of subsidizing healthcare costs.

Major U.S. equities indexes pushed higher amid optimism that Congress could be approaching a deal to end the U.S. government shutdown. The Dow ended Monday's session 0.8% higher, while the S&P 500 rose 1.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.3%. See here for more from Investopedia on the day's markets news.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) shares surged close to 9%, logging the S&P 500's top performance Monday. The data analytics software company counts the U.S. government as a big customer, and has inked numerous contracts with the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies. If a deal to end the government shutdown does materialize soon, Palantir would benefit.

Shares of data storage maker Western Digital (WDC) jumped close to 7% following a price-target boost and bullish comments from analysts at Loop Capital. The research firm said it anticipates growing demand for hard disk drive capacity into 2026 and strong pricing trends. Loop Capital also boosted its price target on shares of data storage competitor Seagate Technologies (STX), which gained 5.2% Monday.

Bullish analyst comments also contributed to a positive trading session for the world's largest company by market capitalization. Citi lifted its price target on shares of AI chip leader Nvidia (NVDA) to $220 from $210, noting that demand for its processors remains robust. Analysts also highlighted competitive advantages including Nvidia's software ecosystem and strong relationships with cloud computing leaders. Nvidia is set to release its latest quarterly results on Nov. 19. Shares of Nvidia added about 6% to close around $199 Monday.

Health insurance stocks moved lower after President Trump said in a social media post over the weekend that federal healthcare subsidies should by paid directly to individuals rather than to insurers. Shares of Centene (CE), which has significant exposure to the Affordable Care Act market, plunged nearly 9%, losing the most of any S&P 500 stock. Molina Healthcare (MOH) shares sank 7.3%, while Humana (HUM) fell 5.4% and Elevance Health (ELV) lost 4.4%.

Ball Corp. (BALL), a maker of aluminum cans, announced a shakeup in its top executive position. CEO Dan Fisher stepped down from the company, effective immediately, and Ronald Lewis took the helm of the company. Lewis was previously Ball's chief supply chain and operations officer. Shares of the company fell 5.2%.

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Warren Buffett is set to retire as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025.

Key Takeaways

• Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, in a letter to shareholders on Monday, said he would retain a "significant" stake in the company as a vote of confidence in his successor Greg Abel.
• Abel will take over as CEO at the end of this year when Buffett plans to step down after 60 years at the helm of the conglomerate.
• Buffett also said he was accelerating the pace of charitable donations made to his children's foundations, to which he intends to donate the entirety of his fortune.

Warren Buffett sought to allay investor concerns about his upcoming retirement in a letter to shareholders on Monday. 

Buffett, in a Thanksgiving letter he said would become an annual tradition, said he plans to keep a “significant” number of Berkshire’s Class A shares until shareholders “develop the comfort” with incoming CEO Greg Abel that Buffett and his late business partner Charlie Munger “long enjoyed.” Buffett on Monday converted 1,800 “A” shares—worth about $1.3 billion—to “B” shares, which were donated to four family-run foundations. 

Why This Matters

Warren Buffett, after 60 years leading Berkshire Hathaway, has become to some degree synonymous with the $1 trillion conglomerate. His impending departure is forcing some investors to question what they value about Berkshire: its portfolio of businesses and investments, or its legendary leader.

Buffett also said he plans to “step up the pace of lifetime gifts” to his three children’s foundations, to which he has promised to donate the entirety of his nearly $150 billion fortune. He said the acceleration was meant to increase the likelihood that his children—aged 72, 70, and 67—can dispense his fortune “before alternate trustees replace them.”

Buffett, who has led Berkshire for 60 years, said in 2021 that Abel would succeed him as CEO. He officially announced in May that the transition would happen at the end of this year. 

Berkshire shares have fallen 7% since that announcement, while the S&P 500 has risen 20%. Analysts have attributed the stock’s underperformance to the “Buffett premium,” which refers to the boost Berkshire stock gets from Buffett’s unparalleled reputation on Wall Street and beyond. 

“The acceleration of my lifetime gifts to my children’s foundations in no way reflects any change in my views about Berkshire’s prospects,” Buffett wrote. “I can’t think of a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, a member of government – you name it – that I would select over Greg to handle your savings and mine,” he added.