Berkshire Hathaway’s operating earnings climbed 16% in the second quarter to $12.98 billion, driven by stronger profits in energy, railroads and manufacturing that more than offset weakness in insurance. The conglomerate’s cash pile declined to $365.5 billion at the end of June from a record $397.4 billion three months earlier, as Greg Abel started to deploy the war chest through share buybacks and stock purchases. Berkshire repurchased approximately $4.5 billion of its own shares during the quarter and became a net buyer of equities with nearly $20 billion in net purchases, ending 14 consecutive quarters of net selling. The $10 billion investment in Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is now among Berkshire’s five largest equity holdings by market value, alongside American Express, Apple, Bank of America and Coca-Cola. Shares of Berkshire are up 3% on the year, underperforming the S&P 500’s 13% gain over the same period.
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