Overview
- Berkshire reported lower operating earnings of $12.7 billion for the quarter driven largely by a sharp drop in insurance performance, with underwriting profit down about 43 percent and insurance investment income falling roughly 14 percent.
- Under Greg Abel the company repurchased $9.6 billion of its own stock in the quarter and added roughly $2 billion more in October, bringing total buybacks since the restart to about $16.4 billion according to company disclosures.
- Despite heavy buybacks, Berkshire was a small net seller of public equities in the period, buying about $2.4 billion and selling about $2.8 billion, and its full quarter-end portfolio filing is still pending.
- Management made several large external moves including an agreement to buy Taylor Morrison for about $6.8 billion and investments of roughly $10 billion in Alphabet plus $930 million into Bending Spoons.
- Berkshire retains an unusually large liquidity cushion reported between about $357 billion and $377.4 billion depending on accounting for certain liabilities, a buffer that funds buybacks and deals and has helped lift the share price.