Berkshire Hathaway under Greg Abel sees AI‑driven energy prospects, faces data‑center pushback as stock stagnates

Berkshire Hathaway's share price has gone almost nowhere since Greg Abel succeeded Warren Buffett as chief executive at the end of 2025. A $1,000 investment made then was worth $1,005 through August 31, a gain of 0.47%, against 13.5% for the S&P 500 over the same stretch. That is despite a solid second quarter, with revenue of $101.81 billion up 10% year over year, net profit of $25.67 billion and earnings of $6.02 per share, and a cash pile of $365.5 billion .

In a CNBC interview, Abel said there is "a lot more pushback" on data-center construction in communities across the United States . That is not an abstract observation for Berkshire. Berkshire Hathaway Energy is a regulated utility owner, and data centers already represent roughly 8% of load in Iowa, so siting resistance is a direct constraint on the growth Abel is describing rather than an industry-wide talking point.

On the opportunity side, Abel pointed to Berkshire's increased Alphabet position in the second quarter, held at roughly 106 million shares, and described Google's parent as a "significant player" in AI . Berkshire authorized an additional $10 billion Alphabet investment about three months earlier. Abel said the conglomerate has visibility into how AI is being applied across its portfolio and sees it as a catalyst for the energy business specifically.

The tension is what makes this worth reading. Abel is describing an AI-driven demand tailwind for his utilities and, in the same conversation, the community-level friction that decides whether that demand can be served. Buffett compounded at 19.7% a year from 1965 to 2025 against 10.5% for the S&P 500, so a flat first stretch tells you very little on its own. What it does raise is whether the energy platform can convert AI load growth into returns fast enough to matter at Berkshire's size.

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