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Berkshire’s operating profit rose to $7.9 billion, up from $6.9 billion a year earlier, boosted by gains across its holdings. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company’s performance is tied to its many subsidiaries — which include GEICO, railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe and consumer brands like Duracell, Dairy Queen and paint maker Benjamin Moore — as well as a massive investment portfolio.
Berkshire also said tariffs from the US-China trade war weighed on its consumer and industrial businesses. The tariffs cut into sales of Precision Castparts, it gas turbine and pipe products unit, the filings said. BNSF railroad saw a 5% profit gain due to cost-cutting measures to offset a drag from trade tensions.
Berkshire Hathaway also purchased $700 million of its own stock in the third quarter, an uptick from the $442 million it bought last quarter. The company purchased $1.7 billion of its own shares in the first quarter.
Previously, the company did not allow stock buybacks. The board changed a rule last year to allow the company to begin purchasing back billions of dollars worth of stock, a practice that has been criticized by some analysts as inflating share prices.
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