Berkshire Hathaway: its mountain of cash rises to $377 billion

Berkshire Hathaway’s mountain of cash continues to grow, reaching $377.4 billion, up from $365.5 billion at the end of June, whilst the group’s profits have slowed due to difficulties in its insurance business.

The use of funds for the share buyback has therefore not affected the growth in Berkshire’s cash position: in the third quarter, the group founded by Warren Buffett repurchased its own shares worth $9.6 billion. And it is possible that the growth in cash reserves may accelerate because the price of Berkshire’s Class A shares has exceeded $878,000 – reaching the level seen prior to Buffett’s surprise decision to announce his retirement at the annual general meeting in May 2025 – and the share buyback programme is expected to slow down

In short, since Buffett stepped down as chairman in September – having handed over the role of CEO to Greg Abel in January – the holding company’s cash flow has shown no sign of slowing down. These funds could be deployed in the market during the next periods of volatility.

The holding company’s insurance operations fared less well. Geico’s profit fell to $1.35 billion from $2.37 billion last year. This is a development the market is not used to. Berkshire’s non-insurance businesses, which Abel has overseen for years – such as the manufacturing firms Precision Castparts, utility companies and the railway operator BNSF, appear to be performing better than its massive insurance division, despite the absence of hurricanes or other major disasters this year.

On Saturday morning, Berkshire announced a profit of $22.1 billion, equivalent to $15,502 per Class A share. This represents a fall from the $30.8 billion – or $21,413 per share – recorded in the third quarter of last year, but these net profit figures tend to mask the performance of the companies owned by the conglomerate.