Berkshire Hathaway Q3 Results: Operating Profit Falls, Buybacks Rise

Berkshire Hathaway Q3 results showed operating profit falling 6% to $12.71 billion as insurance earnings weakened, while share buybacks accelerated to $9.6 billion.

The Omaha-based company released the numbers on Saturday, 7 November. Operating profit worked out to about $8,954 per Class A share, Reuters reported. Net income dropped 28% to $22.11 billion from $30.80 billion a year earlier, while revenue rose 11% to $105.65 billion.

Berkshire buybacks pick up pace

Berkshire repurchased $9.6 billion of its own stock in the third quarter, compared with $4.8 billion earlier in the year. It bought back roughly $2 billion more in the first four weeks of October. Its biggest buyback year remains 2021, when it spent $27 billion.

The company repurchases shares only when the price is below its intrinsic value, “conservatively determined”, according to its disclosures.

Cash and equivalents stood at $356.9 billion at the end of September, down from $380.2 billion at the end of March, according to Reuters. Broader measures that include cash held at the railway and energy units put the pile higher. Berkshire also held $335.5 billion of stocks as of 30 September.

Insurance weighs on Berkshire Hathaway Q3 results

Insurance profit fell 26%, and underwriting profit was down 43%. GEICO, the group’s car insurer, saw pretax profit drop 45% as its loss ratio rose to 76.6% from 71.5%, a sign that claims costs are eating into margins.

Chief Executive Greg Abel said insurance was “becoming a more challenging environment”, according to Forbes.

Other large businesses held up better. Profit at the BNSF railway rose 19% to $1.73 billion, Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s profit increased 8% to $1.61 billion, and pretax profit at Precision Castparts climbed 30%.

Currency movements reduced operating earnings by $343 million in the quarter, according to figures compiled by Stock Titan. Excluding that effect, the drop in operating profit would have been smaller.

In its report, Berkshire said “considerable uncertainty” remains about economic and geopolitical outcomes, including tariffs and wars.

Greg Abel’s first year in charge

The quarter was Greg Abel’s third as chief executive. He took over from Warren Buffett, 96, who stepped down as CEO at the end of 2025 after about 60 years leading the company and is now chairman emeritus.

Abel has been active on deals in his first year. Berkshire completed its $6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison in July and took a 4% stake in Bending Spoons, the Italian technology company.

Berkshire shares have outperformed the wider market this year. They were up more than 13% in 2026 through Friday, beating the S&P 500 by more than five percentage points, Reuters said. The stock has held up even as technology shares have come under pressure this month.

Also Read: JPMorgan Q3 Profit Rises 6% to $15.3 Billion but Misses Estimates | ExxonMobil Q3 Results: Profit Beats on Refining; $20 Billion Buyback

Why it matters and what comes next

For business leaders and investors, the faster pace of repurchases is the main takeaway from the Berkshire Hathaway Q3 results, because of the company’s own rule. Since Berkshire buys back stock only below its estimate of intrinsic value, the bigger buybacks indicate that management sees its shares as attractively priced.

The results also land against a firm US economy, which grew at a 3.4% annualised pace in the third quarter according to the advance estimate, and a Federal Reserve that held interest rates at its last meeting. With the Fed’s target range at 3.75%–4%, Berkshire’s large Treasury bill holdings continue to earn substantial interest income.

Berkshire does not give earnings guidance. Investors will watch whether buybacks continue at a similar pace in the fourth quarter, after about $2 billion in October, and whether GEICO’s margins stabilise. Company announcements are posted on Berkshire Hathaway’s official news page, and more coverage is in our news section.