research report · BRK-B

Berkshire Hathaway Inc

Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1664, detail · National Gallery of Art

Viridis’s deep research report, written Nov 9, 2026 from its quarterly report (10-Q for the quarter ended Sep 30, 2026, filed Nov 9, 2026). Written and checked with Anthropic’s Claude models.

your email, no card; what you get

business trajectory

Deteriorating

worse on balance: sales, margins, cash or competitive position

financial resilience

Strong

can meet its obligations and fund its plan for two years with money it can count on, with room

Judgments of the business from its filings, not of its shares: no valuation, no advice.

bottom line

Berkshire's operating businesses stopped growing in the third quarter of 2026, because insurance is weakening faster than rail, utilities and industrials are improving. By my calculation from the filing's after-tax table, earnings before investment gains fell 5.8% to $12.7 billion. Excluding currency swings on the company's yen and euro debt, they were roughly flat (−0.8%), against +6.1% on the same basis in the first half. Insurance underwriting and investment income together fell 26% after tax, and GEICO paid 91.4 cents in claims and expenses per premium dollar versus 84.3 cents a year earlier. None of this strains the company: $352.3 billion of cash and Treasury bills at September 30 funded $16.2 billion of acquisitions and $14.4 billion of buybacks over nine months.

what changed this quarter

  • Revenue rose 11.2% to $105.6 billion. Net earnings fell to $22.1 billion from $30.8 billion as pre-tax investment gains shrank to $11.9 billion from $21.9 billion.
  • After-tax underwriting earnings fell 42.9% to $1.35 billion; insurance investment income fell 14.1% to $2.73 billion.
  • BNSF earnings rose 19.3%, BHE 8.3%, and manufacturing, service and retailing 11.8%.
  • Taylor Morrison closed July 24 for about $6.8 billion; Q3 buybacks were $9.6 billion.
  • The NICO bankruptcy settlement was approved October 22, subject to appeal.

in the full report

Its findings, each with the evidence, the strongest counterpoint and what would prove it wrong:

  • Underlying earnings stopped growing in the third quarter
  • Insurance is weakening on both legs, and the quarter has no catastrophe distortion
  • Capital is being deployed faster, but the largest purchase so far earns less than Treasury bills
  • PacifiCorp's wildfire exposure is contained for now but unresolved

Then its finances, the quality of its earnings, its management, the case for and against, and what to watch, its claims cited to the filings and checked against them.

read it whole

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