5 Highlights of Berkshire Hathaway’s Third Quarter Report for 2018

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Dr. David Kass
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Berkshire Hathaway 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.

(3) Berkshire purchased approximately $13 billion in equities on a net basis, including approximately $15 billion in equities in “Banks, insurance, and finance”.

(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.

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David I Kass Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Finance Ph.D., Harvard University Robert H. Smith School of Business 4412 Van Munching Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-1815 Phone: 301-405-9683 Email: dkass@rhsmith.umd.edu (link sends e-mail) Dr. David Kass has published articles in corporate finance, industrial organization, and health economics. He currently teaches Advanced Financial Management and Business Finance, and is the Faculty Champion for the Accelerated Finance Fellows. Prior to joining the faculty of the Smith School in 2004, he held senior positions with the Federal Government (Federal Trade Commission, General Accounting Office, Department of Defense, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis). Dr. Kass has recently appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNBC, PBS Nightly Business Report, Maryland Public Television, Business News Network TV (Canada), Fox TV, American Public Media's Marketplace Radio, and WYPR Radio (Baltimore), and has been quoted on numerous occasions by Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal, where he has primarily discussed Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. He has also launched a Smith School “Warren Buffett” blog. Dr. Kass has accompanied MBA students on trips to Omaha for private meetings with Warren Buffett, and Finance Fellows to Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings. He is an officer of the Harvard Business School Club of Washington, DC, and is a member of the investment and budget committees of a local nonprofit organization. Dr. Kass received a Smith School “Top 15% Teaching Award” for the 2009-2010 academic year.