Berkshire Hathaway said on Saturday, 7 November 2026, that third-quarter operating earnings fell 5.8% to $12.71 billion, as weaker insurance results dragged on the Omaha conglomerate. At the same time, new chief executive Greg Abel sharply accelerated share buybacks, spending $9.6 billion in the quarter and about $2 billion more in October.
Net earnings fell further, down 28% to $22.11 billion, while revenue rose 11% to $105.65 billion, the second straight quarter of double-digit growth. The net figure includes unrealised gains and losses on stocks Berkshire is not selling, and the company urges investors to look past that volatility to the operating line.
The quarter in numbers
| Measure | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating earnings | $12.71 billion | $13.49 billion | Down 5.8% |
| Net earnings | $22.11 billion | $30.8 billion | Down 28% |
| Revenue | $105.65 billion | — | Up 11% |
| Share buybacks | $9.6 billion | None | — |
| Cash and equivalents | $356.9 billion | — | Down from $380.2 billion in March |
Insurance losses pulled the quarter down
Insurance was the main drag on the quarter. Profit from insurance fell 26%, and underwriting profit, the money an insurer earns from premiums after paying claims and costs, dropped 43%. Car insurer GEICO was the weakest spot: its pretax profit fell 45%, and its loss ratio, the share of premiums paid out on claims, rose to 76.6% from 71.5% a year earlier.
GEICO has been charging lower premiums to win back customers lost during a multiyear effort to improve underwriting quality and cut overhead. Cathy Seifert, a CFRA Research analyst who rates Berkshire “hold”, called GEICO’s results weak next to those of Allstate and Progressive. She also warned that Berkshire’s limited financial disclosures make it harder to pinpoint problems and fix them.
Abel puts the cash pile to work
The buyback is the clearest sign yet of how Abel is running the company differently from his predecessor. Berkshire repurchased $9.6 billion of its own stock between July and September, on top of $4.8 billion earlier in the year, and about $2 billion more in the first four weeks of October. Its biggest year for buybacks was 2021, when it spent $27 billion.
Warren Buffett, 96, had difficulty finding things to buy toward the end of his 60 years at the helm, and he announced in May 2025 that he would step down as chief executive. The quarter was the third since Abel, 64, took over. Buffett remains chairman emeritus after his son Howard Buffett succeeded him as chairman in September. Full details of the quarter are published in the company’s news releases.
Abel has also been spending on deals. Results reflected purchases this year of Occidental Petroleum’s chemicals business for $9.4 billion and home builder Taylor Morrison for $6.8 billion. Berkshire has spent billions of dollars on Alphabet shares and took a 4% stake in Italian software company Bending Spoons. It owned $335.5 billion of stocks, including Alphabet, Apple and American Express, as of 30 September.
Railroads, energy and factories did the heavy lifting
Away from insurance, the operating businesses mostly held up. Profit at the BNSF railroad rose 19%, helped by fuel surcharges and higher volumes of consumer, agricultural and energy products. Profit rose 8% at Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which owns utilities, natural gas pipelines and the company’s namesake real estate brokerage.
Industrial businesses fared well too. In that unit, aerospace and industrial gas turbine sales helped Precision Castparts lift pretax profit by 30%. Profit from consumer products businesses declined, mainly because of lower tax credits at Duracell, while higher gas prices boosted the Pilot truck stop chain. Fruit of the Loom underwear and Forest River RVs were among the consumer businesses that declined.
Shares hit records while the market slid
The market has rewarded the shift. Berkshire shares reached record highs this week despite a broader sell-off driven by investor worries about artificial intelligence and debt-fuelled spending by technology companies. Since the end of September, the stock has outgained the S&P 500 by more than 18 percentage points, and for 2026 it has beaten the index by more than five points.
Seifert said investors may be rotating into less volatile, high-quality names such as Berkshire. “The question is how much investors will accept short-term shortfalls in exchange for owning a company with a strong balance sheet and which successfully transitioned to a post-Buffett era,” she said.
The wider economy kept growing, with the US expanding at a 3.4% annualised rate in the third quarter, according to the advance estimate from the Commerce Department. The October jobs report also showed hiring beating every forecast. Even so, Berkshire said “considerable uncertainty” remains about tariffs and wars, and several of its retailing businesses are seeing “sluggish” demand. It was the same week of pressure on technology shares that brought Tesla’s Cybertruck production wind-down, and Reuters reported that Berkshire’s own shares still climbed.
Berkshire Hathaway Q3 2026: your questions answered
How much did Berkshire Hathaway earn in the third quarter of 2026?
Operating earnings were $12.71 billion, down 5.8% from $13.49 billion a year earlier. Net earnings fell 28% to $22.11 billion, while revenue rose 11% to $105.65 billion.
How much stock did Berkshire buy back?
Berkshire repurchased $9.6 billion of its own stock in the third quarter, about $2 billion more in October, and $4.8 billion earlier in 2026.
Why did Berkshire’s profit fall?
Insurance was the main reason. Underwriting profit fell 43%, and GEICO’s pretax profit fell 45% as claims rose and the insurer charged lower premiums to win back customers.
Who runs Berkshire Hathaway now?
Greg Abel, 64, is chief executive, in his third quarter in the role. Warren Buffett, 96, is chairman emeritus, and his son Howard Buffett became chairman in September.
