Berkshire Prices ¥182.3 Billion Five-Tranche Yen Deal While CFRA Questions Whether BNSF Can Offset a 42.9% Insurance Slide
Published on 11/14/2026 at 16:41 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Berkshire Hathaway has locked in terms on a ¥182.3 billion yen bond sale, placing the paper across five tranches with maturities stretching from three to 30 years, according to Bloomberg. The five-year notes carry a 3.007% coupon, the ten-year tranche 3.661%, and the longest-dated 30-year paper 4.571%.
The funding move lands alongside a mixed third-quarter 2026 picture. Berkshire bought back $9.6 billion of its own stock during the quarter, part of roughly $14.4 billion in repurchases over the first nine months of the year. Yet both operating earnings and net income attributable to shareholders came in below the year-earlier figures.
Operating profit for Q3 2026 totaled $12.7 billion, down from $13.5 billion a year earlier. Net income attributable to shareholders fell to $22.1 billion from $30.8 billion. The buybacks were executed during the reporting quarter.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Berkshire Hathaway?
Insurance Weakness Draws a Skeptical Eye
CFRA Research's Cathy Seifert said on Thursday she doubts that strength at BNSF and Berkshire Hathaway Energy can offset the softness in the insurance operations. After-tax insurance earnings dropped 42.9% in the third quarter of 2026 compared with the prior year.
The railroad subsidiary offers the counterweight. BNSF lifted its after-tax profit by 19.3% in the same quarter, Berkshire disclosed. On Monday BNSF reported quarterly operating earnings of $2.5 billion, with $6.8 billion for the first nine months — both above their year-earlier levels. Seifert's question is whether that momentum, together with the energy business, is enough to absorb the insurance hit.
KBW Lifts Its Target, Keeps Its Rating
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on Berkshire on Monday to $765,000 from $735,000 while maintaining an "Underperform" rating. The firm pointed to operating earnings per share ahead of expectations and buybacks that came in larger than forecast.
The split verdict — a higher target paired with a negative rating — captures the tension running through the quarter: capital returns and railroad profits are holding up, but the underwriting engine is running well below last year's pace.
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