Berkshire refrained from share buybacks for a fifth straight quarter, with investors watching closely as Warren Buffett prepares to step down later this year.(file photo) | Photo Credit: Rick Wilking/Reuters
That figure hit $13.5 billion, driven by an increase in insurance underwriting profit, in a period that was marked by an unusually low disaster activity, according to filings published Saturday.
Buffett sells shares amid lower investment income
Buffett offloaded $6.1 billion of shares during the period. In spite of that growing cash hoard, the firm’s net investment income declined 13% to $3.2 billion amid lower short-term interest rates.
The firm’s collection of primary insurance and reinsurance businesses both turned a pretax underwriting profit this quarter, after posting losses in the year-ago period.
Insurance profits steady, Geico lags
But Berkshire auto insurer Geico’s pretax underwriting profit fell 13% amid higher claims, even as the unit continued to add new clients.
No buybacks as Buffett exit looms
For the fifth straight quarter, the firm declined to buy back its own shares, even after they fell nearly 12% after Buffett announced in May that he would step down as CEO at the end of the year.
Berkshire’s earnings are closely watched because the conglomerate’s stable of businesses — ranging from insurance to rail, energy and manufacturing — provides a snapshot of the health of the US economy.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Published on November 1, 2025
