ABRAnews Open the whole story. Sign in
Business

Berkshire Hathaway buys back $9.6 billion of its stock as quarterly profit falls

Overall profit falls more than 28% and operating earnings slip nearly 6%, with weaker results at insurer Geico.

5 news outlets reported this
Liberal1 outletGeico's slide and doubts about the insurance businessCenter2 outletsProfit decline and Geico pressure in the quarterConservative2 outletsAbel speeds up buybacks despite lower profit
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

Berkshire Hathaway, the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate, reported third-quarter results on Saturday. It repurchased $9.6 billion of its own shares in the quarter. Overall profit came to $22.1 billion, a drop of more than 28% that reflected changes in the value of its investments.

Operating earnings, which leave out those swings and which the company has long urged investors to watch, slipped nearly 6%. Geico, the auto insurer, weighed on results, and the New York Post reports its pretax profit fell after it charged lower premiums. Greg Abel became CEO in January.

Warren Buffett gave up the chairman title in September. The Post reports Berkshire bought back more of its stock in October, on top of purchases earlier in the year. AP reports the likely came to a halt as the Class A share price surged, topping its level before Buffett announced his retirement plans in May 2025.

Berkshire said "considerable uncertainty" remains about economic and geopolitical events, according to the Post.

Key figures
  • $9.6 billionBerkshire shares repurchased in the third quarterABC News
  • $22.1 billionoverall third-quarter profit, down from $30.8 billionABC News
  • $12.7 billionoperating earnings, down nearly 6%ABC News
  • 45%Geico pretax profit decline, as the New York Post reportsNew York Post
  • $878,000Class A share price Berkshire surged past, as AP reportsABC News

Three sides of the story

1Liberal2Center2Conservative

5 news outlets reported this

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal1 outlet

Geico's slide and doubts about the insurance business

ABC News runs the AP wire report under the headline "Berkshire Hathaway buys back $9.6B of its own stock but profits decline." Its subhead says overall profit fell more than 28%, with investment values changing. The piece quotes an analyst and an investor.

CFRA Research's Cathy Seifert says Geico is in a difficult position as premiums decline while claim costs rise. Investor Chris Ballard of Check Capital says his firm is not disappointed, because Geico is investing again in advertising and chasing more customers. Seifert adds that businesses Greg Abel has overseen for years look stronger than insurance, asking "what about the rest of the franchise."

A correction on the page says $1.35 billion is underwriting profit at all Berkshire insurers, while Geico generated $982 million, down from $1.77 billion. The ABC News piece puts operating earnings at $8,907 per Class A share, against the $8,821.84 that four FactSet analysts had predicted.

Center2 outlets

Profit decline and Geico pressure in the quarter

Courthouse News runs the AP report headlined "Berkshire Hathaway buys back $9.6 billion of its own stock but its profits declined." It opens with the $9.6 billion repurchase in the third quarter and a fall of more than 28% in overall profit, and notes the cash pile grew to $377.4 billion. CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert says Geico faces falling premiums and rising claim costs.

Its version of the AP text, without the correction ABC News carries, puts Geico's underwriting profit at $1.35 billion, down from $2.37 billion, and says Progressive and other rivals are handling the pressure better. It adds that the non-insurance businesses Greg Abel has overseen for years seem to be doing better than the insurance unit, and quotes Seifert: "the businesses that play to Greg's strengths do well." The Journal's news headline reads "Berkshire Hathaway's Falls After Investment Gains Shrink."

The Journal reports a 28% decline in quarterly net income, as investment gains slumped and insurance operations reported lower profits.

Conservative2 outlets

Abel speeds up buybacks despite lower profit

The New York Post leads with the pace of repurchases: "Berkshire Hathaway speeds up stock buybacks, though profit falls." It says CEO Greg Abel is more willing than Warren Buffett to put the cash hoard to use. It counts $9.6 billion bought from July to September, about $2 billion more in October and $4.8 billion earlier in the year.

Geico's pretax profit fell 45%, which it ties to lower premiums, and the loss ratio rose to 76.6% from 71.5%. It adds that BNSF profit rose 19% and that shares reached record highs. It sets the results against 3.4% annualized economic growth and elevated and gas prices.

Analyst Cathy Seifert says limited disclosures can become "a point of vulnerability." The Washington Times headlines its report "Berkshire Hathaway buys back $9.6B of its own stock but its profits declined" and says Geico disappointed and overall profit fell more than 28%.

All sources: 5 articles from 5 outlets

Liberal (1)

Center (2)

Conservative (2)

Buyback and dividend

Two ways a company gives cash to shareholders. A dividend is a payment per share. In a buyback the company buys its own shares, so each remaining share owns a bigger piece of the company.

All terms →
Wall Street

A street in New York where the stock exchange stands. In the news it means US financial markets and the big banks and investment firms as a whole.

All terms →
Quarterly earnings

Public companies report their profits every three months. “Beat estimates” means profit came in above analysts' forecasts, “adjusted” leaves out one-off items, and “per share” is the profit divided by the number of shares.

All terms →
Inflation and the CPI

How fast prices rise. In the US it is measured by the consumer price index, published monthly for a basket of goods and services. “Core” inflation leaves out food and energy, whose prices swing the most.

All terms →