Andrew Bary
By Andrew Bary
Berkshire Hathaway's operating earnings after taxes rose 18% in the first quarter to $11.3 billion on strength in the company's railroad unit and higher insurance underwriting income.
The company bought back $235 million of stock in the period, the first repurchases since the second quarter of 2024. The buybacks began on March 4, and were smaller than many investors expected for the period. It appears that Berkshire only bought stock on March 4.
The repurchases are one of the key figures in the earnings repor, because investors are interested to see the company's appetite for buybacks under CEO Greg Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett at year-end 2025.
Berkshire stock has lagged the S&P 500 index by about 10 percentage points this year and 40 points over the past year. The class A shares finished Friday at $710,300, down 12% from their peak a year ago. The class B stock ended Friday at $473.
Berkshire's cash totaled a record $397 billion on March 31, up from $373 billion at year-end 2025.
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Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com
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May 02, 2026 08:17 ET (12:17 GMT)
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