Berkshire’s Q3 Report: Where Buybacks and Operating Earnings Appear
Berkshire Hathaway’s November 7, 2026 earnings release and quarterly filing answer different questions. The release summarizes operating earnings for the third quarter and the first nine months. Part II, Item 2 of the Form 10-Q lists the company’s share repurchases during the third quarter.
A simple fictional example may help. Imagine one report asks, “How did the core businesses perform this quarter and over the first nine months?” That is the operating earnings question. Another asks, “Did the company buy back any of its own shares during the period, and how is that activity described?” That is the repurchase question. The two answers can sit in the same reporting package, but they are not the same metric and do not serve the same purpose.
Where to look in the November 7 release
In the earnings release, look for the section that presents operating earnings in a quarter-versus-nine-month format. The column for the latest quarter gives the three-month picture, while the nine-month column shows the cumulative view from the start of the year through the reporting date. That is the place to compare period results without mixing them with balance-sheet items or capital allocation notes.
Where to look in Part II, Item 2 of the 10-Q
In Part II, Item 2 of the Form 10-Q, look for the table of issuer repurchases. It breaks the third quarter down by month and shows the number of shares purchased and the average price paid. That table covers the quarter; it is not a nine-month repurchase total. Part I, Item 2 is the separate management discussion.
Used together, the release and the filing give a cleaner picture: operating earnings tell you how the businesses performed, while share repurchases tell you how equity was handled during the period. Those are related parts of a quarterly report, but they answer different questions.
Sources
Berkshire Hathaway’s November 7 earnings release
Berkshire Hathaway’s third-quarter Form 10-Q
