Berkshire Hathaway stock: Buybacks rise as operating profit falls

Berkshire Hathaway said on Saturday, November 7, that it repurchased about 9.6 billion US dollars of its own shares in the third quarter, while operating earnings declined as insurance results weakened. The figures came in the company's third-quarter 2026 release.

Berkshire Hathaway stock traded at 533.65 euros on Lang & Schwarz at 1:22 p.m. CET on Friday, November 13, 0.27 percent below the Xetra close of Thursday, November 12. The comparison uses the previous Xetra session because the German market was still trading when the Lang & Schwarz quote was recorded.

Insurance weakness weighs on earnings

Operating earnings fell 5.8 percent year over year to 12.705 billion US dollars from 13.485 billion US dollars. Berkshire defines the measure as net earnings excluding investment gains and losses, goodwill and intangible-asset impairments and other-than-temporary impairments of equity-method investments.

Insurance underwriting earnings dropped to 1.352 billion US dollars from 2.369 billion US dollars. Insurance investment income declined to 2.734 billion US dollars from 3.181 billion US dollars. Together, the two insurance lines reduced the contribution from a business that remains central to Berkshire's model of investing insurance float.

Reported net earnings attributable to Berkshire shareholders fell to 22.112 billion US dollars from 30.796 billion US dollars. The company cautioned that quarterly investment gains and losses can make net earnings per share an unreliable indicator of underlying operating performance because unrealized equity-market movements flow through the income statement.

Buybacks mark a stronger capital return

Berkshire acquired approximately 9.6 billion US dollars of treasury shares during the quarter, lifting repurchases for the first nine months to about 14.4 billion US dollars. The third-quarter amount was more than twice the 4.5 billion US dollars bought back in the second quarter, according to CNBC.

The repurchases reduce the share base and can increase the ownership proportion of continuing investors, but the benefit depends on the prices paid and the company's assessment of intrinsic value. The pace therefore signals a more active use of capital under Chief Executive Greg Abel, without establishing a fixed future repurchase rate.

Other businesses provide a counterweight

BNSF's after-tax contribution rose to 1.729 billion US dollars from 1.449 billion US dollars. Berkshire Hathaway Energy contributed 1.612 billion US dollars, compared with 1.489 billion US dollars a year earlier, while manufacturing, service and retailing earnings increased to 4.042 billion US dollars from 3.616 billion US dollars.

For the first nine months, operating earnings reached 37.034 billion US dollars, up from 34.286 billion US dollars. Insurance float stood at approximately 178.5 billion US dollars at September 30, an increase of about 2.1 billion US dollars from year-end 2025. That funding base remains an important financial advantage, although weaker underwriting shows the sensitivity of results to claims and pricing conditions.

US equities remain the broader market reference for Berkshire Hathaway stock; investors can follow the S&P 500 alongside insurance conditions and Berkshire's capital allocation.

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