Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A) the investment conglomerate run by Warren Buffet has reported record cash as it reduced its equity holdings.
The Omaha-based company also announced that it repurchased its own shares to the value of $1.1 billion, taking the total spent on share buybacks for 2023 to $7 billion.
“Warren Buffett is still feeling cautious towards stocks with Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile increasing to $157 billion in the third quarter and its share portfolio shrinking from $353 billion at the end of June to $319 billion,” commented Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor
Operating earnings jumped 40.6% to $10.8 billion, supported by the group’s insurance operations.
However, it reported a net loss of $12.8 billion for the three months to September 30 as the value of its investment portfolio declined.
That translated into a loss per Class A shares of $8,824 and a loss per Class B share of $5.88.
The results include investment losses of $24.1 billion, with a 12% decline in Apple’s share price weighing on Berkshire’s portfolio. For the first nine months of 2023, it reported investment gains of $23.5 billion.
The company said the amount of investment gains/losses in any given quarter is usually meaningless and delivers figures for net earnings or losses per share that can be extremely misleading to investors. Due to accounting rules, it is required to report losses or gains on investments in its portfolio.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Class A shares traded 0.7% higher ahead of the opening bell on Monday.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com