Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) revealed its third-quarter financial results, showing revenue of $92.995 billion, surpassing market expectations of $83.2 billion. This marks a slight 0.2% decrease from $93.2 billion the previous year and a drop from $93.7 billion in the second quarter.
The company reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of $26.251 billion, a significant turnaround from a $12.767 billion loss in the previous year. Class A shares earned $18,272 per share, compared to a loss of $8,824 per share last year. Class B shares saw earnings of $12.18 per share, up from a loss of $5.88 per share the previous year.
Operating profits for the quarter reached $10.09 billion, a 6% decline year-over-year, primarily due to a sharp decrease in insurance underwriting profits from $2.422 billion to $750 million. Market expectations for operating profits were $10.9 billion, with the previous year's figure at $10.761 billion.
Berkshire continued to avoid major acquisitions and reduced its significant equity holdings, leading to a record cash, cash equivalents, and short-term U.S. securities total of $325.21 billion as of September 30, 2024, up from $276.9 billion at the end of June. The company did not repurchase any stock in the third quarter and only repurchased $345 million worth in the previous quarter, totaling $2.9 billion for the first nine months of the year.
Investment gains for the third quarter were $16.16 billion, with a total of $36.391 billion for the first nine months, compared to a net loss of $23.528 billion the previous year. Insurance float funds reached approximately $174 billion by September 30, 2024, an increase of about $5 billion since the end of 2023.
Berkshire expects pre-tax insurance losses from Hurricane Milton to range between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion, which will impact the fourth quarter results. As of September 30, 2024, 70% of Berkshire's equity positions were concentrated in five companies. The holding in Apple (AAPL, Financial) was reduced by 25% with its value declining from $84.2 billion to $69.9 billion in the second quarter. The stake in Bank of America (BAC) decreased from $41.1 billion to $31.7 billion, with 775 million shares held as of October 10, valued at approximately $31 billion at that day's close.
Meanwhile, Berkshire's holding in American Express (AXP) increased from $35.1 billion to $41.1 billion, in Coca-Cola (KO) from $25.5 billion to $28.7 billion, and in Chevron (CVX) decreased from $18.6 billion to $17.5 billion. The fair value of fixed income securities held at the end of the third quarter was $16.042 billion, including investments in U.S. government bonds, foreign bonds, and corporate bonds valued at $4.516 billion, $9.904 billion, and $1.394 billion, respectively.
