It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Berkshire Hathaway B (BRK.B). Shares have added about 7.6% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Berkshire Hathaway B due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.
Berkshire Hathaway Q3 Earnings Beat, Revenues Miss, Both Rise Y/Y
Berkshire Hathaway's third quarter 2025 operating earnings of $6.26 per share increased 33.8% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 33.2%.
Operating earnings were $13.5 billion, which increased 3.4% year over year. The increase was due to higher earnings in insurance underwriting, BNSF, and Manufacturing, service, and retailing.
Behind the Headlines
Revenues increased 2.2% year over year to $92.5 billion due to higher revenues at Insurance and Other and Railroad, Utilities and Energy. The top line, however, missed the consensus estimate by 0.1%.
Costs and expenses decreased 2.6% year over year to $79.1 billion, largely due to a decline in insurance losses and loss adjustment expenses, lower underwriting expense, and lower selling, general and administrative expenses. The figure was lower than our estimate of $116 billion.
Segment Performance
Berkshire Hathaway’s Insurance and Other segment revenues increased 2.4% year over year to $81.7 billion in the reported quarter due to higher premiums earned, sales and service revenues and leasing revenues.
Insurance underwriting earnings improved more than threefold year over year to $2.4 billion, benefiting from lower losses.
Railroad, Utilities, and Energy operating revenues decreased 1.5% year over year to $13.1 billion, primarily due to higher freight rail transportation revenues and utility and energy operating revenues. The figure was lower than our estimate of $25 billion. Pre-tax earnings of the Railroad decreased 2.5% to $2.9 billion due to lower earnings at BHE as lower earnings at U.S. utilities, natural gas pipelines and other energy businesses weighed on BHE’s quarterly performance.
Total revenues at Manufacturing, Service, and Retailing increased 2.4% year over year to $54.7 billion. Earnings from Manufacturing, Service and Retailing businesses rose 8.2% year over year to $3.6 billion.
Financial Position
As of Sept. 30, 2025, consolidated shareholders’ equity was $700.4 billion, up 7.5% from the level as of Dec. 31, 2024. At quarter-end, cash and cash equivalents were $72.2 billion, up 62.7% from the level at 2024-end.
BRK.B exited the third quarter of 2025 with a float of about $176 billion, up from $171 billion at Dec. 31, 2024
Cash flow from operating activities totaled $34.8 billion in the first nine months of 2025, up 33.9% from the year-ago period. BRK.B did not repurchase shares in the first nine months of 2025.
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?
In the past month, investors have witnessed a downward trend in estimates revision.
The consensus estimate has shifted -31.42% due to these changes.
VGM Scores
At this time, Berkshire Hathaway B has a poor Growth Score of F, however its Momentum Score is doing a bit better with a D. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for this investment strategy.
Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of F. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.
Outlook
Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of this revision indicates a downward shift. Notably, Berkshire Hathaway B has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.
Performance of an Industry Player
Berkshire Hathaway B is part of the Zacks Insurance - Property and Casualty industry. Over the past month, RLI Corp. (RLI), a stock from the same industry, has gained 4.6%. The company reported its results for the quarter ended September 2025 more than a month ago.
RLI Corp. reported revenues of $448.96 million in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +5.3%. EPS of $0.83 for the same period compares with $0.65 a year ago.
RLI Corp. is expected to post earnings of $0.76 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +85.4%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged.
RLI Corp. has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) based on the overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions. Additionally, the stock has a VGM Score of B.
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Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B): Free Stock Analysis Report RLI Corp. (RLI): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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