Berkshire Hathaway accelerated stock repurchases in the third quarter, as new CEO Greg Abel demonstrated greater willingness to put its enormous cash hoard to use than his predecessor Warren Buffett.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate said on Saturday that it bought back $9.6 billion of stock in the quarter, on top of $4.8 billion earlier in the year, and about $2 billion more in the first four weeks of October.

The buybacks came despite lower results from its insurance business, which weighed on overall profit.

Buffett, 96, had difficulty finding things to buy toward the end of his 60 years at the helm. He remains chairman emeritus, after stepping down as CEO at the end of 2025. The July-September quarter was the third since Abel, 64, became chief executive.

Berkshire ended September with $356.9 billion of cash and equivalents. Its biggest year for buybacks was 2021, when it repurchased $27 billion of stock.

Quarterly operating profit fell 6% from a year earlier to $12.71 billion, or about $8,954 per Class A share.

Insurance was a major reason for the decline, as profit fell 26%. Underwriting profit fell 43%, and included a 45% pretax decline at the Geico insurer, where accident losses and advertising spending increased.

Net income fell 28% to $22.11 billion, including unrealized gains and losses on stocks that Berkshire still owns. Berkshire urges investors to ignore the volatility from changes in the values of stocks it is not selling.

Revenue increased 11% to $105.65 billion, the second straight quarter of double-digit percentage growth, despite declines in some consumer businesses such as Fruit of the Loom underwear and Forest River RVs.

While the US economy grew at an annualized 3.4% rate in the third quarter, according to the advance estimate of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of ⁠Economic Analysis, elevated inflation and gas prices are dampening consumers’ ability to spend.

Berkshire maintained that “considerable uncertainty” remains about the outcomes of economic and geopolitical events, including tariffs and wars.

SUPPORT FOR AI

Berkshire‘s purchases this year have included billions of dollars of Alphabet shares to help Google’s parent expand in artificial intelligence, though the stock trades below discounted prices that Berkshire paid.

Abel also spent $6.8 billion in July to buy home builder Taylor Morrison, and Berkshire has taken a 4% stake in Italian software technology company Bending Spoons.

The cash holdings have declined from $380.2 billion at the end of March.

Berkshire owns dozens of businesses including several insurers and reinsurers, BNSF, utilities, industrial and manufacturing companies, and retail brands such as Brooks running shoes and See’s candies. It also owned $335.5 billion of stocks such as Alphabet, Apple and American Express as of September 30.

Despite the AI investments, many investors still view Berkshire as a collection of more traditional businesses that together resemble the broader economy.

Berkshire‘s share price reached record highs this week despite a broader market selloff as investors worried about AI and debt-fueled spending by technology companies.

Through Friday, Berkshire‘s shares have risen more than 13% in 2026, outpacing the S&P 500 by more than five percentage points.

BNSF GAINS, RESULTS MIXED FROM CONSUMER BUSINESSES

Geico’s profit decline reflected in part the insurer’s willingness to charge less for policies, as it seeks to regain customers it lost during a multi-year effort to improve underwriting quality and reduce overhead.

The insurer’s loss ratio, or percentage of premiums paid to cover claims, rose to 76.6% from 71.5% a year earlier. Loss claims also grew in some other Berkshire insurance and reinsurance businesses.

Profit at BNSF rose 19% to $1.73 billion, benefiting from fuel surcharges and higher volumes of consumer, agricultural and energy products.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which owns utilities, natural gas pipelines and Berkshire‘s namesake real estate brokerage, saw profit rise 8% to $1.61 billion.

Industrial businesses fared well, as aerospace and industrial gas turbine sales helped Precision Castparts boost pretax profit by 30%.

Consumer products results were mixed as some shoppers resisted higher prices, though sales grew at Brooks and Duracell batteries. Overall pre-tax profit from consumer businesses declined mainly because of lower tax credits at Duracell.

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(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Stephen Gandel and Alexander Smith )