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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Berkshire Hathaway’s Class A stock did not suffer a genuine 99% collapse in value. On June 3, 2024, BRK.A briefly displayed an anomalous price near $185, then trading was halted amid a market-data problem involving price bands used by the NYSE. Trading resumed after the issue was resolved. The reported explanation points to a technical problem—not a sudden change in Berkshire’s business or finances.
What happened to Berkshire Hathaway stock?
Shortly after the U.S. market opened on June 3, Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares (BRK.A) appeared to plunge. Interactive Brokers said the price fell in seconds from about $622,000 to about $185 at approximately 9:50 a.m. EDT. The Associated Press reported a low of $185.10, compared with a $627,400 close the previous Friday. Those figures come from separate accounts and should not be treated as identical measurements.
The apparent plunge was followed by a trading halt. The issue was resolved before noon Eastern, according to the Associated Press, and trading resumed. The episode affected more than Berkshire: the AP reported that as many as 40 ticker symbols were potentially impacted, based on information from the Consolidated Tape Association (CTA). That was a potential-impact count, not confirmation that every symbol had erroneous trades.
What caused the apparent 99% drop?
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) attributed the halts to a technical issue involving industry-wide price bands published by the CTA. Price bands are used in volatility controls to constrain trading when prices move sharply. The AP reported that the CTA said a new software release may have caused the issue; switching to a secondary data center resolved it.
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The software-release explanation was tentative. The cited reporting does not establish the exact defect or full sequence of system interactions. It supports describing the event as a market-data and trading-controls problem, not claiming a confirmed code bug, malicious action, or fundamental change at Berkshire.
Did Berkshire really lose 99% of its value?
No. The roughly 99% description refers to the difference between the anomalous displayed or reported price and the much higher recent trading level. It was not evidence that Berkshire’s underlying business value suddenly fell by that amount. A displayed price, an order submitted to a broker, a completed execution, and a company’s fundamental value are different things.
Interactive Brokers later said some of its clients submitted market buy orders during the halt, apparently expecting the low displayed price to be available when trading resumed. That is a disclosure about that broker’s clients and operations; the cited sources do not provide a comprehensive record of executions across all brokers or investors.
Which Berkshire shares were involved?
The incident concerned Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares, traded as BRK.A. Berkshire also has Class B shares, traded as BRK.B. The company identifies both symbols in its second-quarter 2024 earnings release. The reported near-$185 anomaly in the June 3 accounts was for BRK.A.
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What investors can take from the incident
- A dramatic quote on a screen is not, by itself, proof of an equivalent change in a company’s value.
- A trading halt can interrupt trading while an exchange or market-data issue is addressed; it does not mean that a displayed price will necessarily be available for execution.
- Market orders do not set a guaranteed execution price. During unusual conditions, investors should understand their broker’s order handling and the risks of submitting orders while trading is halted or volatile.
The available reporting establishes that the NYSE/CTA issue was resolved and affected trading resumed. It does not establish the precise software defect, a complete inventory of affected trades, or the total investor impact.
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Sources
- Interactive Brokers, “IBKR Trading Notice,” June 26, 2024
- Associated Press, “Technical issues briefly halt trading for some NYSE stocks in the latest glitch to hit Wall Street,” June 3, 2024
- Berkshire Hathaway Inc., second-quarter 2024 earnings release, August 3, 2024
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