Berkshire Doubles Buybacks as Insurance Earnings Slide
Berkshire Doubles Buybacks as Insurance Earnings Slide
Berkshire Hathaway stepped up its share repurchases in the third quarter, buying $9.6 billion of its own stock as operating and overall earnings declined. The purchases were more than double the $4.5 billion repurchased in the prior quarter, taking 2026 buybacks to roughly $14.4 billion.
The timing creates a sharp contrast. Operating earnings fell 5.8% year on year to $12.705 billion, chiefly because insurance profits weakened. Underwriting income dropped 43% to $1.352 billion, while insurance investment income declined 14% to $2.734 billion. Overall earnings sank 28% to $22.112 billion as investment gains nearly halved.
Yet the pressure was not uniform across Berkshire’s empire. Its railroad, energy and manufacturing operations all recorded year-on-year earnings growth, suggesting the buyback push reflects confidence in the group’s broader collection of businesses rather than a dismissal of the insurance slowdown.
The repurchases also came as Berkshire stock pulled ahead of the wider market amid a rotation away from technology shares. Class A stock gained more than 12% over the past month, while the S&P 500 fell 5.5%; year to date, Berkshire rose 13%, compared with 7.8% for the index.
Berkshire still has formidable financial capacity. Its reported cash hoard rose 3% from the second quarter to $377.435 billion, although cash excluding rail and utility holdings and Treasury-bill payables fell 1.9% to $352.3 billion. Against that backdrop, the $9.6 billion buyback reads less as a rescue measure than as a deliberate use of excess capital during a softer earnings quarter.
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