Have Berkshire Hathaway investors really moved on from Warren Buffett?

Berkshire Hathaway shares have hit record highs, prompting a Bloomberg headline that investors have “moved on” from Warren Buffett (disclosure: I own shares in Berkshire). But have they really?Shares have certainly had a good run, hitting their first all-time high since May 2nd, 2025, the day before Buffett announced he was stepping down. The rise has been rapid, with Berkshire going on a 10-day winning streak, its first since 2018. The gains came as nerves over the AI trade rattled semiconductor stocks, with Berkshire outperforming the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index by 22 percentage points in little over a fortnight. READ MOREThat’s an impressive level of outperformance, but it doesn’t change the bigger picture. Since Buffett announced his impending departure 17 months ago, Berkshire shares have been essentially flat, whereas the S&P 500 advanced some 35 per cent.The valuation story is similarly revealing. Immediately before Buffett’s announcement, Berkshire traded at about 1.8 times book value, well above its historical norm of roughly 1.4-1.5 times. That looked generous even with Buffett still in charge. The subsequent sell-off wrung out that excess, with Berkshire trading at 1.55 times book value at the end of 2025. By March 2026 it had slipped further, to about 1.45, and it remains around that level today.The recent rally, then, doesn’t so much suggest new-found confidence in Buffett’s successor, Greg Abel, as it does a flight to safety amid growing nerves over AI.In fairness to Abel, nor do the figures amount to a vote of no confidence. However, if investors once paid a premium for Buffett himself, that premium is difficult to discern today.