Berkshire Hathaway said Saturday it bought back about $9.6 billion of its own stock in the third quarter, more than double the $4.5 billion it repurchased in the second quarter, as operating and overall profits declined¹.

The buybacks bring Berkshire's 2026 total to about $14.4 billion, according to CNBC's report on the company's results¹.

Operating earnings from wholly owned businesses totaled $12.705 billion, down 5.8% from $13.485 billion a year earlier, as profits from insurance pulled back¹.

Insurance underwriting profit fell 43% year over year to $1.352 billion, and insurance investment income fell 14% to $2.734 billion¹. Berkshire's railroad, energy and manufacturing businesses all posted higher earnings than a year earlier¹.

Overall earnings, which include results from Berkshire's stock portfolio, fell 28% to $22.112 billion from $30.796 billion a year earlier¹. Investment gains fell nearly 50% to $9.407 billion¹. The company posted a quarterly report at berkshirehathaway.com¹.

Berkshire's cash rose 3% in the quarter to $377.435 billion from $365.514 billion in the second quarter¹. Excluding rail and utility cash and T-bill payables, cash holdings were $352.3 billion, down 1.9% from the prior quarter¹.

CNBC said Berkshire Class A shares were up more than 12% over the past month while the S&P 500 fell 5.5%, and that Berkshire was up 13% year to date versus 7.8% for the index¹. The five largest equity holdings remained Alphabet, American Express, Apple, Bank of America and Coca-Cola¹.

Sources

1. CNBCBerkshire Hathaway more than doubles buybacks in third quarter as earnings decline9:02 AM

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