OMAHA, Nebraska: Berkshire Hathaway repurchased $9.6 billion of its shares in the third quarter and another $2 billion in October, accelerating its stock buybacks under new CEO Greg Abel even as weaker insurance results dragged down quarterly profit.

The conglomerate reported on November 7 that operating earnings fell 6 percent to $12.71 billion in the July-September quarter, while net income declined 28 percent to $22.11 billion, reflecting lower insurance profits and reduced gains on stock investments.

The increased repurchases signal a greater willingness by Abel to deploy Berkshire's substantial cash reserves than his predecessor Warren Buffett, who struggled to find attractive investments toward the end of his six decades leading the company.

Berkshire also repurchased $4.8 billion of shares earlier this year. Its cash and equivalents stood at $356.9 billion at the end of September, down from $380.2 billion six months earlier. The company's largest annual buyback total was $27 billion in 2021.

Abel, 64, is now in his third quarter as chief executive. Buffett, 96, remains chairman emeritus after his son Howard Buffett succeeded him as chairman in September.

Berkshire, valued at approximately $1.21 trillion, owns businesses spanning insurance, railroads, utilities, manufacturing and retail. Its holdings include Geico, BNSF Railway, Brooks, Fruit of the Loom and See's Candies.

The company also held $335.5 billion in stocks, including Alphabet, Apple and American Express, as of September 30.

Often regarded by investors as an indicator of the broader US economy, Berkshire warned that "considerable uncertainty" remained over economic and geopolitical developments, including tariffs and wars.

Several of its retail businesses reported "sluggish" demand as uncertainty weighed on consumer confidence. Elevated inflation and gasoline prices have also affected consumer spending, despite the US economy expanding at an annualized 3.4 percent in the third quarter.

Nevertheless, Berkshire shares reached record highs during the week as broader markets declined amid concerns over artificial intelligence investments and debt-funded spending by technology companies.

Since September 30, Berkshire shares have outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 18 percentage points. For 2026, the company has beaten the benchmark by more than 5 percentage points.

"Investors may be rotating into less volatile, high-quality names such as Berkshire," said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research who rates the stock "hold."

"The question is how much investors will accept short-term shortfalls in exchange for owning a company with a strong balance sheet and which successfully transitioned to a post-Buffett era."

Berkshire's operating profit of $12.71 billion, equivalent to approximately $8,954 per Class A share, compared with $13.49 billion a year earlier.

Insurance profit declined 26 percent, while underwriting profit fell 43 percent. Geico's pretax earnings dropped 45 percent as the insurer reduced premiums to regain customers lost during efforts to improve underwriting and lower costs.

Geico's loss ratio, measuring the proportion of premiums used to pay claims, rose to 76.6 percent from 71.5 percent a year earlier. Claims also increased across other Berkshire insurance and reinsurance operations.

Seifert said Geico's performance was weak compared with Allstate and Progressive, while Berkshire's limited financial disclosures made it difficult to identify problems.

"Limited disclosures are fine when everything goes in the right direction, but become a point of vulnerability" when they do not, she said.

Revenue rose 11 percent to $105.65 billion, marking a second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, despite weaker results at consumer businesses including Fruit of the Loom and Forest River.

Results included Berkshire's acquisitions of Occidental Petroleum's chemicals business for $9.4 billion and homebuilder Taylor Morrison for $6.8 billion.

Berkshire also invested billions in Alphabet shares to support the Google parent's AI expansion and acquired a 4 percent stake in Italian software company Bending Spoons.

Elsewhere, BNSF's profit increased 19 percent, supported by fuel surcharges and higher shipments of consumer, agricultural and energy products.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy reported an 8 percent profit increase, while aerospace and industrial gas turbine sales helped Precision Castparts lift pretax earnings by 30 percent.

Consumer products profit declined, primarily because of lower tax credits at Duracell, while higher gasoline prices benefited Berkshire's Pilot truck stop business.