OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Warren Buffett now has more than $325 billion in cash after continuing to sell billions of dollars worth of Apple and Bank of America stock this year and collecting a steady stream of profits from all of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock. various companies without any major acquisitions being found.
Berkshire said it sold more Apple shares in the third quarter after halving its massive investment in the iPhone maker last quarter. The stake, valued at $69.9 billion at the end of September, remains Berkshire’s largest investment, but has been drastically reduced since late last year, when it was worth $174.3 billion.
Berkshire said Saturday that investment gains pushed third-quarter earnings up again to $26.25 billion, or $18,272 per Class A share. A year ago, unrealized losses on paper investments caused the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate’s profits to fall to a loss of $12.77 billion, or $8,824 per Class A share.
Buffett has long advised investors to pay more attention to Berkshire’s bottom line if they want to get a good sense of how the companies it owns are doing, because these numbers rule out investments. Berkshire’s earnings figures can vary widely from quarter to quarter, as can the value of its investments, regardless of whether the company has bought or sold anything.
On that metric, Berkshire said its operating profit fell only about 6% to $10.09 billion, or $7,023.01 per Class A share. That compares with last year’s $10.8 billion, or $7,437.15 per Class A share.
The four analysts surveyed by FactSet Research predicted Berkshire would report operating profit 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 number exceeded the $92.231 billion in revenue that three analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast.
Berkshire owns an assortment of insurance companies, including Geico, along with the BNSF Railroad, several major utilities, and a diverse collection of retail and manufacturing companies, including brands like Dairy Queen and See’s Candy.
