Berkshire Hathaway Stock Edges Higher. Why Investors Are Split on Earnings.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway’s third-quarter operating profit rose 33% from a year ago. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Berkshire Hathaway stock was climbing on Monday, although it was a muted enough response to earnings to suggest that investors are still uncertain about how CEO Warren Buffett’s departure at the end of the year will impact the conglomerate.

Berkshire’s Class A shares climbed 2.3% to $732,000 ahead of the opening bell. The B shares were 1.3% higher, at $483.55. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were up 0.2%.

Questions remain about what will change when Buffett steps down after 60 years at the helm. The B shares are up just 5.4% in 2025, compared with a 16% gain for the S&P 500, with investors weighing up what will change when Buffett’s handpicked successor, Greg Abel, takes charge.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Berkshire Hathaway class B sharesSource: FactSetAs of Oct. 31, 4:01 p.m. ET

Created with Highcharts 9.0.12025Oct.420440460480500520540$560

The next important moment for the stock is likely to come in mid-November, when Berkshire is set to disclose its holdings in a 13-F filing.

For now, we know that Berkshire sold $12.5 billion and bought $6.4 billion of equity securities over the third quarter. Its five largest holdings are still credit-card provider American Express, iPhone maker Apple, investment bank Bank of America, soft-drinks maker Coca-Cola, and oil major Chevron.

Berkshire’s third-quarter results on Friday showed that the company’s operating profit rose 33% from a year ago, to $13.5 billion after taxes, beating FactSet consensus estimates. The conglomerate is also sitting on a record cash pile of $381 billion.

Still, investors may be a little bit disappointed that Berkshire didn’t purchase any of its own stock over the quarter, extending a run of no share buybacks since May 2024.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com