Berkshire Hathaway bought back $9.6 billion of stock in the latest quarter, even as its operating profit fell 6% to $12.71 billion. The Omaha-based firm said it spent more cash under CEO Greg Abel. Insurance profits dropped 26% due to higher accident losses at Geico, despite the company holding massive cash reserves.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate said on Saturday it bought back $9.6 billion of stock in the quarter, on top of $4.8 billion earlier in the year, and about $2 billion more in the first four weeks of October.
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Chief Executive Greg Abel has appeared more willing to spend Berkshire's cash than his predecessor Warren Buffett, who had difficulty finding things to buy toward the end of his 60 years at the helm. Berkshire ended September with $356.9 billion of cash and equivalents.
The July-September quarter was the third since Abel, 64, became chief executive. Buffett, 96, stepped down as chairman in September but remains chairman emeritus.
Quarterly operating profit fell 6% from a year earlier to $12.71 billion, or about $8,954 per Class A share.
Insurance was a major reason for the decline, as profit fell 26%. Underwriting profit fell 43%, and included a 45% pretax decline at the Geico insurer, where accident losses and advertising spending increased.
Net income fell 28% to $22.11 billion, including unrealized gains and losses on stocks that Berkshire still owns. Berkshire urges investors to ignore the volatility from changes in the values of stocks it is not selling.
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Berkshire's cash holdings have declined from $380.2 billion at the end of March.
Berkshire's biggest year for buybacks was 2021, when it repurchased $27 billion of stock.