Major corporations are stockpiling cash amid growing global uncertainty. Berkshire Hathaway leads the pack with a staggering $347.7 billion in cash reserves—nearly matching the combined reserves of Intel, Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, American Express, Meta, and Microsoft ($352.6 billion).

Buffett’s Berkshire Boosts Cash Hoard to Record $347.7 Billion

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway posted a lower operating profit in the first quarter, dented by insurance losses from wildfires and foreign currency changes, while its cash stake grew to a record $347.7 billion.

The cash stake grew from $334.2 billion at year-end, reflecting Berkshire's difficulty finding things to buy.

It repurchased none of its own stock for a third straight quarter, and was a net seller of stocks for a 10th straight quarter, buying $3.18 billion and selling $4.68 billion.

It said in its quarterly report that "considerable uncertainty remains," and Berkshire was "unable to reliably predict" the potential impact on the company, including as to product costs, supply chain costs and customer demand.

Tesla Boosts Cash on Hand to Record $37.4 Billion

Tesla held record $37.4 billion in cash and equivalents as of Q1 2025, up from $36.6 billion in Q4 2024. This reflects a deliberate strategy to prioritize liquidity for future investments and risk mitigation.

• EV Competition: Rising competition in the EV sector (e.g., BYD, legacy automakers) pressures margins, making cash reserves critical for R&D and price wars.

• Macro Risks: Global supply chain uncertainties and potential economic downturns incentivize liquidity buffers.

Barclays analysts note Tesla’s 2025 strategy hinges on volume growth, autonomous tech, and non-automotive revenue (e.g., energy storage), all requiring significant capital.

The company’s $37 billion cash position provides a "strategic reset" capability, as mentioned in The Economic Times, to pivot toward high-margin opportunities like AI-driven mobility services.

Alphabet Reduces Cash on Hand as Capital Expenditures Soar 43%

Google parent Alphabet posted cash on hand to $95.3 billion in the first quarter, a 13.4% decrease compared with the same quarter of the last year. The decline came as the company ramped up capital expenditures, which rose 43% year-on-year to $17.2 billion.

It was part of a planned $75 billion of spending this year to build out data center capacity, even as U.S. tariffs threaten to cast a shadow on the capital costs of AI projects.

Pichai said at the time the massive investment was needed to buy the chips and build the servers required to burnish Alphabet's core offerings, including Search, while supporting the development of AI services such as its Gemini model.

Big Tech has continued to defend its aggressive AI spend despite macroeconomic pressures and competitive threat from China's DeepSeek. Amazon's CEO earlier this month wrote in a letter that billion-dollar outlays were necessary to remain competitive in the AI space.