Berkshire Hathaway earnings for the third quarter BRK

Berkshire Hathaway Saturday posted solid gains in operating profit during the third quarter despite mounting recession fears, while Warren Buffett continued to buy back his shares at a modest pace.

The Omaha-based group’s total operating profit — which includes profits from countless conglomerate-owned businesses such as insurance, railroads and utilities — totaled $7.761 billion in the third quarter, up 20% from the same period last year.

Investment and insurance income was $1.408 billion, up from $1.161 billion a year earlier. Profits from the company’s utility and energy business came in at $1.585 billion, up from $1.496 billion year-over-year. Insurance underwriting suffered a loss of $962 million, while railroad profits fell to $1.442 billion from $1.538 billion in 2021.

Berkshire spent $1.05 billion in share buybacks during the quarter, bringing the nine-month total to $5.25 billion. The repurchase rate was in line with the $1 billion purchased in the second quarter. The buybacks were well below the CFRA’s expectations as its analyst estimated they would be similar to a total of $3.2 billion in the first quarter.

However, Berkshire reported a net loss of $2.69 billion in the third quarter, compared to $10.34 billion a year earlier. The quarterly loss is largely due to a decline in Berkshire’s stock investment amid a rolling market trip.

Berkshire suffered a loss of $10.1 billion in its investments during the quarter, bringing its decline in 2022 to $63.9 billion. The legendary investor once again told investors that the scale of investment losses in any quarter is “usually meaningless.”

Buffett conglomerate shares have outperformed the broader market this year, with Class A shares down about 4% versus Standard & Poor’s 50020% dip. The stock fell 0.6% in the third quarter.

Buffett kept buying the dip Occidental Petroleum In the third quarter, Berkshire’s stake in the oil giant was 20.8%. in August, Berkshire has received regulatory approval to buy up to 50%, fueling speculation that it might eventually buy all of the Houston-based Occidental.

The giant conglomerate raised a cash pile of about $109 billion at the end of September, compared to a total of $105.4 billion at the end of June.