Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) Earnings Show Cash Falling After the Taylor Morrison Deal
Berkshire Hathaway’s cash and Treasury bills fell to $352.3 billion at September 30, 2026, as it paid $6.8 billion for home builder Taylor Morrison and bought back stock. Operating earnings in Greg Abel’s third quarter as chief executive were $12.7 billion, against $13.5 billion a year earlier.
The short answer. In Greg Abel’s first year as chief executive, Berkshire is spending its famous cash pile on companies, its own shares and other stocks, while its insurance profit shrinks. That matters well beyond its shareholders, because GEICO, one of the biggest US car insurers, is making less as the average car insurance premium falls and claims cost more. From April to June, Berkshire bought about $19.8 billion more stock than it sold, after three quarters of selling more than it bought.
Berkshire Hathaway's third quarter of 2026 in three numbers
Show the data
| Item | Value | Times the smallest |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and Treasury bills, June 30, 2026 | $359.2B | 53x |
| OxyChem, January 2026 | $9.4B | 1.4x |
| Taylor Morrison, July 2026 | $6.8B | 1.0x |
On this page
Every company reporting the same week, with its date and time, is in StockTitan’s Earnings Calendar for the Week of November 2, 2026.
Berkshire Hathaway earnings for the third quarter of 2026
Berkshire’s businesses earned $12.7 billion after tax from July to September, against $13.5 billion a year earlier. Net earnings were higher than operating earnings, because they include gains in the value of the stocks Berkshire owns.
Berkshire reports two profit figures. Net earnings were $22.1 billion, or $10.33 per Class B share. Of that, $9.4 billion came from investment gains, mostly the higher value of stocks it still holds.
Accounting rules make Berkshire count those paper gains as profit. The company says the amount in any given quarter “is usually meaningless” and points readers to operating earnings instead. That is the profit from insurance, the BNSF railroad, the utilities and its many other companies.
The biggest piece came from manufacturing, service and retailing, which earned $4.04 billion after tax. That group includes OxyChem, the chemicals maker Berkshire bought on January 2, 2026. BNSF earned $1.73 billion, against $1.45 billion a year earlier.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy, the utility and pipeline group, earned $1.61 billion, against $1.49 billion a year earlier.
One line moves with the dollar. Berkshire borrows in yen and euros, so the value of that debt changes when exchange rates move. In the third quarter that swing cut $343 million from operating earnings, after a $331 million gain a year earlier.
| Operating earnings after tax | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance underwriting | $1,352M | $2,369M |
| Insurance investment income | $2,734M | $3,181M |
| BNSF | $1,729M | $1,449M |
| Berkshire Hathaway Energy | $1,612M | $1,489M |
| Manufacturing, service and retailing | $4,042M | $3,616M |
| Other, including currency swings on non-dollar debt | $1,236M | $1,381M |
| Operating earnings | $12,705M | $13,485M |
| Investment gains | $9,407M | $17,311M |
| Net earnings | $22,112M | $30,796M |
| Net earnings per Class B share | $10.33 | $14.28 |
| Net earnings per Class A share | $15,502 | $21,413 |
Source: Berkshire Hathaway third quarter 2026 and 2025 earnings releases. Class B per-share figures are 1/1,500th of Class A figures.
How much cash does Berkshire Hathaway have?
Berkshire’s insurance and other businesses held $352.3 billion in cash and US Treasury bills at September 30, 2026, by the company’s own count. That was down from $359.2 billion at the end of June, the second quarter in a row it fell.
Treasury bills are short loans to the US government, so Berkshire treats them like cash. The pile is the money Berkshire has not yet put into companies or stocks.
Two uses stand out. Berkshire bought back $9.6 billion of its own shares in the quarter. It also bought Taylor Morrison, a national home builder, on July 24, 2026, paying $72.50 a share in cash, about $6.8 billion for its stock.
The pile was largest at the end of March 2026, at $373.5 billion. It fell from April to June, when Berkshire bought more stock than it sold, and fell again from July to September.
Show the data
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2025 | $354.3B |
| Dec 31, 2025 | $369.0B |
| Mar 31, 2026 | $373.5B |
| Jun 30, 2026 | $359.2B |
Reports quote different cash figures. Berkshire’s own count, used here, leaves out the railroad and utility cash and the Treasury bills it has bought but not yet paid for. A wider total that includes them was $365.5 billion at June 30.
The pile earns interest. Insurance investment income, mostly interest and dividends, was $2.73 billion after tax in the quarter, against $3.18 billion a year earlier. Berkshire said lower short-term interest rates cut its interest income.
Is Berkshire buying back its stock?
Yes. Berkshire bought back about $9.6 billion of its own stock from July to September. It spent nothing on buybacks in all of 2025.
Berkshire restarted buybacks on March 4, 2026, two months after Abel became chief executive. It disclosed the restart in a filing “in the interest of transparency with our leadership transition.” It bought $235 million of stock in March.
Spending then picked up. Berkshire bought about $4.5 billion from April to June, paying an average of $487.98 per Class B share in June. From July to September it added about $9.6 billion more, for about $14.4 billion so far in 2026.
Fewer shares means each remaining share owns a little more of the company. Berkshire had 1,418,900 Class A equivalent shares, its share count with B shares converted into A shares, at September 30, against 1,438,223 at the end of 2025.
The rule behind the buybacks has not changed. Berkshire buys when its chief executive, after talking with the chairman, believes the price is below the company’s value, “conservatively determined.” It will not buy if that would leave less than $30 billion in cash and Treasury bills. Our guide to share buybacks explains how companies carry them out.
Berkshire pays no dividend, so buybacks are how it returns cash to owners. The parent company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., owed $20.4 billion at September 30. Borrowings outside the railroad and the utilities were $45.8 billion, including bonds of a finance unit that Berkshire guarantees. Berkshire does not guarantee the debt of BNSF or Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
Is Berkshire buying or selling stocks?
In the first nine months of 2026, Berkshire bought $41.8 billion of stocks and sold $30.6 billion. The big turn came in the spring, when it bought far more than it sold.
For years Berkshire sold more stock than it bought. It did so in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025, and in 2024 alone it sold $143.4 billion of stocks.
That changed in the second quarter of 2026. From April to June, Berkshire bought about $19.8 billion more stock than it sold, after three quarters of selling more than it bought.
Show the data
| Category | Change |
|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | -$6.1B |
| Q4 2025 | -$3.2B |
| Q1 2026 | -$8.1B |
| Q2 2026 | +$19.8B |
The filings give totals, not names. Its five largest holdings at September 30 were Alphabet, American Express, Apple, Bank of America and Coca-Cola, worth 65% of its stocks. Berkshire’s next Form 13F, a holdings report large investment managers file with the SEC, will show its reported stock holdings at September 30.
Why are GEICO profits down?
GEICO made $982 million before tax from selling car insurance from July to September, down from $1.77 billion a year earlier. Car insurance is getting cheaper, while claims come more often and cost more.
Underwriting profit is what an insurer keeps from premiums after paying claims and its own costs, before any investment income. All of Berkshire’s insurers together earned $1.35 billion after tax from underwriting, against $2.37 billion in the third quarter of 2025.
Show the data
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | $1,773M |
| Q4 2025 | $1,057M |
| Q1 2026 | $1,416M |
| Q2 2026 | $994M |
GEICO is squeezed from both sides. Its average premium per policy fell, Berkshire said, while claims came more often and cost more. In the first nine months of 2026, bodily injury claims rose four to six percent in frequency and nine to eleven percent in average cost.
GEICO’s costs rose too. Its underwriting expenses grew 17.0% from July to September. Berkshire said higher commissions and advertising drove most of the rise this year.
The whole market is seeing cheaper car insurance. US car insurance prices were 5.0% lower in September 2026 than a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Progressive and Travelers also reported cheaper car insurance in October.
| Underwriting profit before tax | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| GEICO | $982M | $1,773M |
| Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group | $119M | $506M |
| Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group | $582M | $884M |
| Total | $1,683M | $3,163M |
Source: Berkshire Hathaway Form 10-Q for the quarters ended September 30, 2026 and September 30, 2025, insurance underwriting.
Who runs Berkshire Hathaway now?
Greg Abel has been chief executive since January 1, 2026. On September 18, Warren Buffett was named Chairman Emeritus in recognition of his contributions, and his son Howard Buffett became chairman.
Berkshire’s annual report says major decisions on how to invest its money are Abel’s responsibility. Buybacks restarted in March and Taylor Morrison was agreed and completed in 2026. OxyChem closed after he took over, under an agreement signed in October 2025.
Buffett, who turned 96 this year, stays on the board. In a letter on September 18, he wrote: “Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values.” In plain terms, Abel makes the decisions and the chairman’s job is to protect how Berkshire works.
Charles Chang became chief financial officer on June 1, 2026. These are the first quarterly results Berkshire has reported since Buffett left the chair, and the cash, buyback and stock figures above show how Berkshire uses its money with Abel deciding.
What to watch
- Which holdings changed between June and September: Berkshire’s Form 13F for the quarter, due with the SEC by mid-November 2026.
- Whether Berkshire kept spending from October to December: its 2026 annual report, with Abel’s second letter to shareholders; it posted the 2025 report on February 28, 2026.
Our numbers
These figures are our calculations from the sources linked in this article.
- The cash figures compared throughout, $352.3 billion at September 30 and $359.2 billion at June 30, 2026, are the same measure: Berkshire’s own count of cash and Treasury bills at its insurance and other businesses, net of Treasury bills bought but not yet paid for, from its 10-Qs.
- About $19.8 billion of net stock buying from April to June 2026: $23.5 billion bought minus $3.7 billion sold, from the cash flow statements.
- Net selling of $6.1 billion, $3.2 billion and $8.1 billion in the three quarters before: the same subtraction, quarter by quarter.
- $365.5 billion of cash and Treasury bills at June 30, 2026: three balance sheet lines added up, railroad and utility cash included.
- GEICO’s $1.06 billion for the fourth quarter of 2025 and $1.42 billion for the first quarter of 2026: the 2025 total less the first nine months, and the first-half total less the second quarter.
Frequently asked questions
When does Berkshire Hathaway report earnings?
Berkshire posted its third quarter 2026 results on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at about 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, as it announced on November 4. It reports on Saturday mornings: its first and second quarter results came out on May 2 and August 8, 2026.
Does Berkshire Hathaway pay a dividend?
No. Berkshire pays no dividend on its Class A or Class B shares. It returns cash to owners through buybacks, which it restarted in March 2026.
Does Berkshire Hathaway hold an earnings call?
Its November 4 notice named no call. Berkshire posts the release and the 10-Q, its quarterly report to the SEC, on its website, and shareholders put questions to management at the annual meeting, held on May 2 in 2026.
How does Berkshire Hathaway make money?
From insurance, led by GEICO and its reinsurance business, which insures other insurers, from the BNSF railroad, from Berkshire Hathaway Energy and from a large group of manufacturing, service and retail companies. It also earns interest on its Treasury bills and dividends on the stocks it owns.
How do Berkshire’s Class A and Class B earnings per share compare?
Both are Berkshire common stock. One Class A share equals 1,500 Class B shares in Berkshire’s per-share figures, so earnings per Class B share are 1/1,500th of the Class A figure.
Where can I follow Berkshire Hathaway on StockTitan?
The BRK.B overview page carries the price, news and filings, and the financials page shows Berkshire’s reported results by quarter.
Sources
- Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) on StockTitan
- Berkshire Hathaway third quarter 2026 earnings release on StockTitan
- Berkshire Hathaway third quarter 2026 earnings release
- Berkshire Hathaway Form 10-Q, quarter ended September 30, 2026
- Berkshire Hathaway third quarter 2025 earnings release
- Berkshire Hathaway Form 10-Q, quarter ended September 30, 2025
- Berkshire Hathaway Form 10-Q, quarter ended June 30, 2026
- Berkshire Hathaway Form 10-Q, quarter ended March 31, 2026
- Berkshire Hathaway Form 10-K for 2025
- Berkshire Hathaway Form 8-K, March 5, 2026, buybacks restarted
- Berkshire Hathaway Form 8-K, May 7, 2026, annual meeting and new chief financial officer
- Berkshire Hathaway completes acquisition of Taylor Morrison, July 24, 2026
- Warren Buffett becomes Chairman Emeritus, September 18, 2026
- Berkshire Hathaway third quarter earnings release date notice, November 4, 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer price index for September 2026
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