Berkshire Hathaway stepped up its stock repurchases in the third quarter, buying $9.6 billion of its own shares — more than twice the $4.5 billion it spent in the prior quarter. The purchases lifted its 2026 buybacks to roughly $14.4 billion, a striking vote of confidence from the Greg Abel-led conglomerate.¹

The timing sharpened the contrast in Berkshire’s quarterly report. Operating earnings fell 5.8% year on year to $12.705 billion, from $13.485 billion, as its insurance operations weakened. Underwriting profit sank 43% to $1.352 billion, while insurance investment income dropped 14% to $2.734 billion.¹

Other operating businesses offered a partial counterweight: the railroad, energy and manufacturing units all increased earnings. But they could not prevent overall earnings from falling 28% to $22.112 billion, as investment gains nearly halved to $9.407 billion.¹

Against that deterioration, the buyback surge reads as management’s answer to a market that has recently favored Berkshire’s defensive profile. Its Class A shares rose more than 12% over the past month while the S&P 500 fell 5.5%; year to date, Berkshire gained 13%, compared with 7.8% for the index.¹

The company still has formidable financial firepower. Its reported cash hoard grew 3% from the second quarter to $377.435 billion, although cash excluding rail and utility holdings and Treasury-bill payables slipped 1.9% to $352.3 billion. Berkshire’s message is clear: insurance may have stumbled, but management sees enough resilience — and enough value in its own shares — to buy aggressively.¹