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These are some of the highlights of Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-A) (BRK-B) 2021 third quarter earnings report. Let's take a look.

1. Berkshire Hathaway’s 2021 third quarter operating earnings were up 18%.
2. Berkshire Hathaway’s cash on Sept. 30, 2021 equaled $149.2 billion, up from $144.1 billion on June 30 and $145.4 billion on March 31.
3. Berkshire’s stock buybacks equaled $7.6 billion in Q3, up from $6.0 billion in Q2. Berkshire bought back its A shares an average price of $430,704 in August, 2021 and its B shares at $285.41. Berkshire A closed at $434,000 on Nov. 5 and its B shares closed at $287.88.
4. Berkshire was a net seller of equities in Q3 by $2 billion. It sold $3.4 billion in equities and bought $1.4 billion. Berkshire sold equities equaling $1.4 billion (on a cost basis) in “Banks, insurance, and finance” and about $500 million (on a cost basis) in “Commercial, industrial, and other.”
5. Berkshire’s book value per A share on Sept. 30, 2021 equaled $322,199, up 2.3% from $315,088 on June 30. Its current price/book value = 1.35, slightly below average for Berkshire in recent years.
6. Berkshire bought back 4,175 A shares (or equivalent) in Q4 through Oct. 27, 2021 for about $1.8 billion.
7. Berkshire’s insurance float on Sept. 30 (net liabilities under insurance contracts) was approximately $145 billion, an increase of $7 billion since year-end 2020.
8. Berkshire’s insurance underwriting business incurred losses of $784 million in Q3, increasing from a $213 million loss a year ago. Its railroad, utilities, and energy units earned $3.03 billion, up from $2.74 billion in Q3 2020.