Berkshire Hathaway’s Quarterly Profit Falls After Investment Gains Shrink

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, November 7, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

Berkshire Hathaway’s third-quarter net income dropped 28% to $22.11 billion due to weaker investment returns and reduced insurance profits. The company bought back roughly $9.6 billion worth of its equity during the period. Cash and short-term government securities holdings fell 2.1% to approximately $357 billion, marking the second consecutive quarterly decrease. Operating earnings, which exclude certain investment results, declined 5.8% to $12.71 billion.

Background

• Greg Abel assumed the CEO role in January, following Warren Buffett’s departure from the chairman position in September.
• Currency exchange movements lowered after-tax operating earnings by $343 million, whereas the same period last year saw a gain of about $331 million.
• The firm acquired $2.4 billion in equities and divested $2.8 billion, with major positions in Alphabet, American Express, Apple, Bank of America, and Coca-Cola.
• Insurance underwriting profits decreased significantly compared to the previous year, which had benefited from favorable weather conditions and improved auto insurance performance.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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