Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) finished the third quarter of 2023 with $157.2 billion in cash and short-term investments (mostly Treasury securities). Buffett is known for keeping large stockpiles of cash on the sidelines, but this is the most the conglomerate has ever had. Even excluding the $30 billion Buffett insists on keeping at all times, there's $127.2 billion in ammo for the company to go shopping.

Realistically, Berkshire's budget is even higher. The company has top-notch credit and massive borrowing capacity, so if the right opportunity came along, there's no reason Berkshire couldn't make a purchase for, say, $150 billion.

Plus, it's likely we'll find that Berkshire's cash hoard has increased, once again, in the fourth quarter. We recently learned Berkshire sold a significant amount of its HP stock, and there's no indicators that Buffett and his team are doing a ton of buying in the stock market.

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Source Fool.com