Warren Buffett now has more than $325 billion in cash after continuing to unload billions of dollars worth of Apple and Bank of America stock this year and continuing to collect a steady stream of profits from all of Berkshire Hathaway’s various businesses without finding any major acquisitions.
Berkshire said It sold more Apple shares in the third quarter After cutting its huge investment in the iPhone maker by half in the last quarter. The stake, worth $69.9 billion at the end of September, remains Berkshire’s largest single investment, but has been significantly reduced since the end of last year when it was worth $174.3 billion.
Berkshire said Saturday that investment gains pushed third-quarter earnings back up to $26.25 billion, or $18,272 per Class A share. A year ago, unrealized paper investment losses reduced the Omaha, Nebraska-based group’s earnings to a loss of $12.77 billion, or $8,824 per Class A share.
Bloomberg
Buffett has long recommended investors pay more attention to Berkshire’s operating profits if they want to get a good idea of how the companies it owns are performing because those numbers exclude investments. Berkshire’s earnings numbers can vary widely from quarter to quarter along with the value of its investments regardless of whether the company has bought or sold anything.
By that measure, Berkshire said its operating profit fell just 6% to $10.09 billion, or $7,023.01 per Class A share. This compares to $10.8 billion last year, or $7,437.15 per Class A share.
The four analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected Berkshire to report operating earnings of $7,335.11 per Class A share.
Berkshire’s revenue was little changed at $92.995 billion. A year ago, it reported revenues of $93.21 billion. That figure exceeds revenue of $92.231 billion expected by three analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Berkshire owns a variety of insurance companies, including Geico, along with BNSF Railway, several major utilities and a variety of retail and manufacturing companies, including brands such as Dairy Queen and See’s Candy.