Berkshire buys back $9.6B as operating profit falls 6%
Berkshire Hathaway said Saturday it repurchased about $9.6 billion of stock in the third quarter, lifting year-to-date buybacks to about $14.4 billion, even as operating earnings fell 5.8% on weaker insurance results. Shares have outperformed the S&P 500 during the recent AI-linked selloff.
AI-assisted · US Brief desk · Sources listed below
What happened
Berkshire Hathaway said Saturday it bought back about $9.6 billion of its own stock in the third quarter, more than doubling the prior-quarter pace and lifting year-to-date repurchases to about $14.4 billion, according to the company's release. Operating earnings — profits from its wholly owned businesses, excluding investment gains and losses — fell 5.8% to $12.705 billion from $13.485 billion a year earlier.
Why it matters
Berkshire is one of the most widely held U.S. stocks, and the buyback pace is a signal of how CEO Greg Abel is deploying a huge cash pile while AI-linked tech shares sell off. CNBC said Class A shares are up more than 12% over the past month as the S&P 500 fell about 5.5%, and Berkshire gained more than 5% this week while the S&P fell nearly 2.7% and the Nasdaq about 3.4%.
What’s next
Investors will watch whether buybacks continue now that shares have rallied, how much cash remains after the Q3 pace, and Berkshire's next 13F for any Alphabet or other equity changes. Markets are closed Saturday; the next tape reaction comes Monday.
More context
The drag was insurance: underwriting profit fell about 43% to $1.352 billion and insurance investment income fell about 14% to $2.734 billion. BNSF, Berkshire Hathaway Energy and the manufacturing, service and retailing group all posted higher earnings than a year ago. Net earnings attributable to Berkshire shareholders, which include swings in the stock portfolio, fell about 28% to $22.112 billion.
Original layer — primary release: Berkshire's Nov. 7 release puts the quarter in one line investors can check: about "$9.6 billion" in treasury shares in the third quarter and "about $14.4 billion" for the first nine months, with 1,418,900 Class A equivalent shares outstanding on Sept. 30. It also flags insurance float at about $178.5 billion, up about $2.1 billion since year-end 2025.
Weak spot / What the evidence shows: Calling Berkshire a pure AI-free haven overstates the case. CNBC notes Abel has pitched Berkshire Hathaway Energy as a power supplier to data centers, and Berkshire's large Alphabet stake has dropped roughly 20% since June as AI stocks sold off — so the conglomerate still has meaningful AI-related exposure through equities and power demand.
4 listed sources
- Berkshire Hathaway Inc., News Release, Nov. 7, 2026
- CNBC (Fred Imbert), Berkshire Hathaway more than doubles buybacks in third quarter as earnings decline, Nov. 7, 2026
- CNBC (Alex Crippen), Berkshire shares surge as Wall Street swoons amid AI fears, Nov. 7, 2026
- Fox Business (Matthew Kazin), Nasdaq rises as AI and chip stocks recover after post-midterm sell-off, Nov. 6, 2026
References listed by US Brief; a source count is not a verification score.
Editorial sourcing notes
Drafted Nov. 7 ~9:10 a.m. PT from Berkshire's Nov. 7 release and same-day CNBC coverage and Berkshire primary release. Buybacks: Q3 ~$9.6B; nine-month ~$14.4B (implies ~$4.8B earlier in 2026). Operating earnings $12.705B vs $13.485B (−5.8%). Insurance underwriting $1.352B vs $2.369B (~−43%); insurance investment income $2.734B vs $3.181B (~−14%). Net earnings $22.112B vs $30.796B (~−28%). Float ~$178.5B (+~$2.1B since YE 2025); Class A equivalent shares 1,418,900 on Sept. 30. CNBC performance figures (Class A +>12% past month vs S&P −5.5%; week Berkshire +>5% vs S&P −~2.7% / Nasdaq −~3.4%; Alphabet stake ~−20% since June) attributed to CNBC. Fox Business cited for Friday Nasdaq/AI rout context. Photos: Annual Meeting 2025 (CC0); Abel file photo 2025 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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