Buffett keeps selling stocks - and more takeaways from Berkshire Hathaway earnings

By Emily Bary

Berkshire again proved a net seller of stocks as its cash balance swelled above $380 billion

Buffett will step down as Berkshire CEO at the end of the year.

Berkshire Hathaway eschewed stock buybacks once again in the third quarter, while growing its cash pile further and driving improvements to its insurance business.

Warren Buffett will be at the helm of Berkshire (BRK.A) (BRK.B) for the fourth quarter as well, but given that the famed CEO plans to step down from his post at the end of the year, this marks the last earnings report from Berkshire that will be released during the Buffett era.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the latest report.

The cash pile keeps growing

Taken together, Berkshire's cash, equivalents and short-term investments in Treasuries exceeded $381 billion in the third quarter, up from about $344 billion in the second quarter.

"Investment income continues to benefit from rising cash balances andrelatively high, though declining, yields on cash and short-term securities," Edward Jones analyst James Shanahan wrote following the report.

Berkshire has been selling stocks and loading up on cash, but management said in its last shareholder letter back in February that it "will never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned."

"Despite what some commentators currently view as an extraordinary cash position at Berkshire, the great majority of your money remains in equities," Berkshire said at the time.

Nonetheless, as Berkshire has trended toward hoarding more cash, some have taken the move as a sign that Buffett doesn't see great new ways to deploy capital in the current bull market.

See also: Berkshire's stock presents Warren Buffett with a 'golden cross' as his retirement nears

A net seller

In line with Berkshire's recent tendency to raise cash, Shanahan noted that Berkshire proved to be a net seller of equities for the 12th quarter in a row.

Stock sales exceeded stock purchases by $6 billion in the third quarter, he said, while calculating $183 billion in cumulative net sales.

Read: Warren Buffett says he'll be 'useful' at Berkshire 'if there's a panic in the market'

No buybacks - again

Buffett declined to buy back Berkshire shares in the third quarter, making for the fifth-straight quarter of that trend.

The continued pause on buybacks comes as Berkshire shares have lagged the broader market recently. Berkshire's stock has risen only 5% in the year to date, versus a 16% rise for the S&P 500 SPX over the same span. During the third quarter, Berkshire's stock advanced 3.5%, about half the gain seen for the S&P 500 over that period.

"We believe that CEO-designate Greg Abel will restore investorconfidence over time. In the near term, however, increased investment activity and/or share repurchases could be a catalyst for [Berkshire] shares," Shanahan wrote.

Earnings improve, helped by insurance trends

Berkshire's overall operating earnings came in at $13.5 billion, up from $10.1 billion a year before.

Earnings related to insurance underwriting improved dramatically in he third quarter, amounting to $2.4 billion versus $750 million a year earlier.

That performance reflected "continued strong underwriting profitability within the Geico segment, low catastrophe losses and lower underwriting expenses," according to Shanahan.

-Emily Bary

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11-01-25 1134ET