5 Highlights Of Berkshire Hathaway’s Third Quarter Report For 2018

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) today released its Form 10-Q for the third quarter of 2018.

Five highlights during the third quarter were:

(1) Berkshire’s operating earnings increased by 100% as compared to the third quarter of 2017.

(2) Berkshire repurchased $928 million of its stock, indicating that both Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger conclude that Berkshire’s current price is below its intrinsic value.Berkshire bought back its shares at an average price of $312,807 per A share.

(3) Berkshire purchased approximately $13 billion in equities on a net basis, including approximately $15 billion in equities in “Banks, insurance, and finance”.Berkshire held $103.6 billion cash as of September 30, down from $111 billion on June 30.

(4) Berkshire added approximately $6 billion, or about 30%, to its stake in Bank of America.

(5) Berkshire’s book value equaled $228,712 per Class A share as of September 30.At Berkshire’s closing price of $308,411 on November 2, its price to book value ratio equaled 1.35, below its historical average of about 1.58.This implies that Berkshire is now buying back its shares at prices below 140% of its book value, versus its previous standard of 120%.