Berkshire Hathaway Stock Slips. 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)

Key Points

• Berkshire Hathaway’s Class A shares fell 0.1% to $714,814, and B shares were 0.4% lower, amid uncertainty about CEO Warren Buffett’s departure.
• Berkshire’s operating profit increased 33% year over year to $13.5 billion in the third quarter, and it holds a record $381 billion cash pile.
• The company sold $12.5 billion and bought $6.4 billion in equity securities during the third quarter, but did not repurchase any of its own stock.

Berkshire Hathaway stock was sliding on Monday, with 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 fell 0.1% to $714,814 in early trading. The B shares were 0.4% lower, at $475.48. The S&P 500 was up 0.3%.

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, becomes CEO.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Berkshire Hathaway class B sharesSource: FactSetAs of Nov. 3, 3:12 p.m. ET

Created with Highcharts 9.0.12025Nov.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 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 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