Berkshire Hathaway’s Cash Hoard Hit a Record. Here Are 4 Earnings Highlights

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B) reported its third-quarter earnings Saturday, which showed a net loss of $12.77 billion but the company’s operating income rose by 40.65% from the year-ago period to $10.76 billion.

Buffet did not address shareholders in a letter, but the company said the losses were caused by changes during the third quarter in the unrealized gains that existed in the company’s equity security investment holdings.

“The amount of investment gains/losses in any given quarter is usually meaningless and delivers figures for net earnings (losses) per share that can be extremely misleading to investors who have little or no knowledge of accounting rules,” the company said in a statement.

Here are four other highlights from the company’s earnings.

Yields Boost Cash Hoard

Berkshire continued to expand its huge cash hoard to a record $157.2 billion, up from $147.4 billion in the second quarter.

The cash pile is largely invested in U.S. Treasury bills, which recently surged to 5%. The company increased its Treasury bill holdings by 36% in the last year, which totaled $126 billion in the third quarter.

Berkshire is likely looking to capitalize on the yields that exceed consumer inflation by more than 1 percentage point as rising interest rates have made investments in Treasuries more attractive.

Buybacks Continue to Decelerate

Stock buybacks were down in the third quarter, with $1.1 billion in repurchases. That’s less than the $1.4 billion in the last quarter.

Investors will be watching how Buffett manages repurchases going forward, following a new tax law…