Summary
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported strong financial performance for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, with net earnings attributable to shareholders reaching $29.4 billion, a significant increase from $12.4 billion in the same period of 2017. This growth was substantially influenced by a change in accounting policy for equity securities, which now includes unrealized gains and losses in earnings, contributing approximately $10.1 billion in after-tax gains in the first nine months of 2018. Excluding these accounting-driven investment gains, the underlying operating businesses also demonstrated resilience and growth across various segments. The insurance underwriting segment swung from a loss of $1.7 billion in the first nine months of 2017 to an underwriting gain of $1.8 billion in the same period of 2018, driven by improved results at GEICO and the Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, aided by favorable prior-year loss development and lower catastrophe losses compared to a severe 2017. The railroad, utilities and energy, and manufacturing, service, and retailing segments all showed increased pre-tax earnings, benefiting from higher revenues, operational efficiencies, and the lower U.S. statutory income tax rate following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Financial Highlights
29 data points| Revenue | $63.45B |
| Operating Expenses | $55.33B |
| Net Income | $18.54B |
Key Highlights
- 1Net earnings attributable to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders were $29.4 billion for the first nine months of 2018, up from $12.4 billion in the prior year, heavily influenced by new accounting for unrealized equity investment gains.
- 2Insurance underwriting swung from a loss of $1.7 billion in the first nine months of 2017 to a gain of $1.8 billion in the same period of 2018, reflecting improved performance across key insurance operations and a reduction in catastrophe losses compared to 2017.
- 3Operating revenues across all segments increased to $184.1 billion for the first nine months of 2018, up from $181.1 billion in 2017, demonstrating broad-based business activity.
- 4The effective income tax rate for Berkshire Hathaway significantly decreased due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, contributing to improved net earnings across most business segments.
- 5Berkshire Hathaway's "float" (net liabilities of insurance operations) remained substantial at approximately $118 billion, with the insurance operations generating positive pre-tax underwriting earnings, resulting in a negative cost of float.
- 6The company repurchased $928 million of its Class A and Class B common stock during the third quarter of 2018, under a revised share repurchase program focused on buying back shares when deemed below intrinsic value.
- 7Consolidated shareholders' equity grew to $375.6 billion as of September 30, 2018, reflecting strong net earnings and continued capital accumulation.