Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A)

Berkshire Hathaway reported second-quarter 2026 operating earnings of $12,983 million, up from $11,160 million a year earlier 1. Insurance underwriting earned $1,731 million against $1,992 million, while the BNSF railroad earned $1,558 million against $1,466 million 1. Net earnings attributable to shareholders were $25,667 million, helped by $12,684 million of investment gains that the company says are usually meaningless in a single quarter 1.

Greg Abel became President and Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2026, and Warren Buffett remains chairman 48. Berkshire disclosed that it began repurchasing its own shares on 4 March 2026 and bought back about $4.5 billion of them in the second quarter 71.

On 24 July 2026 Berkshire completed its purchase of the homebuilder Taylor Morrison for about $6.8 billion in cash, after buying the OxyChem chemicals business for about $9.4 billion on 2 January 92. At 30 June 2026 its insurance and other businesses held $359.2 billion in cash, cash equivalents and U.S. Treasury Bills 2.

One open question is PacifiCorp, the Berkshire Hathaway Energy utility facing wildfire claims in Oregon and California 2. Its unpaid wildfire liabilities were $572 million at 30 June 2026, and after an April 2026 appeals court opinion the plaintiffs took the matter to the Oregon Supreme Court 2.

When Warren Buffett's group took control of Berkshire in 1965, the company was a New England textile maker 13. Its leader later wrote that the business was "destined for recurring losses and will eventually disappear" 13. The textile operation "struggled for 20 years before expiring" 13.

The turn came in 1967, when Berkshire bought National Indemnity and its sister company, National Fire & Marine, for $8.6 million 13. Insurance became the engine of the company 13. Insurers collect premiums before they pay claims, and that pool of other people's money, called float, can be invested in the meantime 3.

Float grew from $88 billion at the end of 2015 to $176 billion at the end of 2025 83. Buffett had first met GEICO, the car insurer that sells directly to customers, in January 1951 13.

Whole companies followed, starting with BNSF, the freight railroad, bought in 2010 with an equity value of $34.5 billion 8. Precision Castparts, the aerospace parts maker, joined in 2016 along with the battery maker Duracell 13. In 2017 Berkshire took a 38.6% stake in the Pilot truck stop chain, gained control on 31 January 2023, and owned all of it from 16 January 2024 3.

The 2022 purchase of the insurer Alleghany brought along businesses such as the toy maker Jazwares and the engineering firm IPS 3. Jazwares was acquired in October 2022 in connection with Alleghany 3.

Net earnings attributable to shareholders were $96,223 million in 2023, $88,995 million in 2024 and $66,968 million in 2025 3. Investment gains within them fell from $58,873 million to $41,558 million to $30,737 million 3.

Insurance underwriting earnings fell from $9,020 million in 2024 to $7,258 million in 2025, which the company tied to lower earnings from each of its underwriting groups 3. Insurance investment income fell too, on lower interest rates 3. Operating earnings were $44.5 billion in 2025, below $47.4 billion in 2024 8.

Berkshire recorded an impairment of approximately $5.0 billion on its Kraft Heinz stake in the second quarter of 2025, and its representatives left the Kraft Heinz board on 19 May 2025 2. Abel's first annual letter calls the Kraft Heinz investment "disappointing" 8.

Abel, who ran Berkshire Hathaway Energy, became Vice Chairman of non-insurance operations in 2018 and took over as chief executive on 1 January 2026 84. Since then the company agreed to buy OxyChem on 1 October 2025, closed it on 2 January 2026, and agreed to buy Taylor Morrison on 31 May 2026 2.

Insurance and the float

Berkshire insurers write property and casualty cover as well as life and health cover, and float was approximately $177.5 billion at 30 June 2026 31.

GEICO sells private passenger car insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, mostly by direct response 3. It competes with State Farm, Progressive, Allstate and USAA, and had about 11.6% of the market, the third largest, in A.M. Best data for 2024 3.

In the first six months of 2026 GEICO earned $22,477 million of premiums, and its loss ratio, the share of premiums paid out in claims and claim costs, rose to 75.3% from 70.4% 2. The company ties that to more frequent claims and costlier ones 2.

Other primary insurers include RSUI, MedPro, the Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance group and GUARD, which earned $749 million before tax in the first half of 2026 against a $81 million loss a year before 2. Reinsurance runs through National Indemnity, General Re and TransRe 3.

A new whole account reinsurance agreement with Tokio Marine began on 1 April 2026 and added $483 million of premiums written, under a ten-year term 2.

BNSF railroad

BNSF operates over 32,500 route miles of track in 28 states and three Canadian provinces, and its main western rival is Union Pacific 3. About 35,000 people worked at BNSF Railway at the end of 2025 3.

Railroad operating revenues were $12,521 million in the first half of 2026 against $11,402 million a year before, and fuel costs rose 32.2% 2. In 2025 BNSF's operating margin improved to 34.5% from 32.0% 8.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy

Berkshire Hathaway Energy owns regulated utilities including PacifiCorp, MidAmerican Energy and NV Energy, serving approximately 5.4 million retail customers, plus five interstate gas pipeline companies with approximately 20,900 miles of operated pipeline 3.

It also owns power networks in Great Britain and Alberta and a 75% interest in a liquefied natural gas facility 3. Its first-half 2026 net earnings attributable to Berkshire were $2,005 million against $1,799 million a year before 1.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing revenue was $43,240 million in the first half of 2026, up from $38,735 million 2. Industrial products include Precision Castparts, Lubrizol, IMC, Marmon and, since 2 January 2026, OxyChem 2.

Precision Castparts makes castings, forgings and fasteners for aircraft and power turbines, and its customers include Boeing, Airbus and GE Aerospace 3. Its revenue was $6.0 billion in the first half of 2026, up 11.4% 2.

Building products include Clayton Homes, Shaw flooring, Johns Manville insulation, Acme Brick, Benjamin Moore paint and MiTek 2. In 2025 Clayton shipped approximately 49,400 off-site built homes and approximately 10,000 site-built homes 3.

Consumer products include Duracell batteries, Fruit of the Loom clothing and the toy maker Jazwares 3.

Service and retailing

McLane is a wholesale distributor to convenience stores, restaurants and others, and Walmart was approximately 17.2% of its revenues in 2025 3. Pilot operates 675 travel centers and 82 fuel-only retail locations across the U.S. and in five Canadian provinces 3.

Pilot's 2025 pre-tax earnings fell 69.1% on lower wholesale fuel and in-store margins 3. NetJets, the private aviation business, operates nearly 1,100 aircraft in over 150 countries 8.

Investments and cash

Its five largest holdings at 30 June 2026 were Alphabet, American Express, Apple, Bank of America and Coca-Cola 2.

In the first half of 2026 it spent $39,405 million on equity securities and sold $27,780 million of them 2. Abel wrote that Berkshire will "always aim for ownership of productive businesses over U.S. Treasuries" 8.

People

Abel is chief executive and Buffett is chairman 48. Abel credits Ajit Jain with writing the playbook on pricing and managing insurance risk 8. Charles Chang became chief financial officer on 1 June 2026, succeeding Marc Hamburg, at a cash salary of $8,000,000 5.

Berkshire and its operating subsidiaries employed approximately 387,800 people at the end of 2025 3. Abel says it runs 51 non-insurance operating businesses with no layers of management between them and Berkshire 8.

Current problems

PacifiCorp has paid approximately $2.3 billion in settlements for the 2020 and 2022 wildfires, including $589 million in the first six months of 2026 2. It says further material losses are reasonably possible 2.

HomeServices, the real estate brokerage owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, is defending antitrust cases over agent commissions, and plaintiffs in two Texas cases asserted damages of approximately $9 billion 2.

The umbrella, in words

Berkshire is a holding company, and its annual report lists its subsidiaries in Exhibit 21, among them GEICO Corporation, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC, Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company, Clayton Properties Group, Inc. and Alleghany Corporation 11.

Berkshire owns 27.5% of Kraft Heinz and 26.7% of Occidental Petroleum common stock, counted by the equity method, and a 50% interest in the commercial mortgage firm Berkadia 2. Its stakes in Japan's five large trading houses were each between 9.7% and 10.8% at the end of 2025 8.

Year-end 2025 stakes in listed companies included 22.1% of American Express, 9.3% of Coca-Cola, 13.9% of Moody's and 1.6% of Apple 8. Berkshire reported owning 12.5% of Lennar Class A common stock in a Schedule 13G amendment 12.

BNSF owns over 23,000 route miles of track, including easements, and operates over 9,000 more under trackage rights 3.

Warren Buffett holds 188,290 Class A shares, about 38.2% of that class, 29.7% of the voting power and 13.2% of the economic interest of both classes 10. Each Class A share has one vote and each Class B share one ten-thousandth of a vote 2.

On 14 July 2026 he converted 8,000 Class A shares into 12,000,000 Class B shares and donated 9,000,000 Class B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 1,000,000 to each of three other foundations 10. Abel wrote that his shares will all go to philanthropy over about 10 years after his death 8.

Berkshire says CEO Abel intends to answer shareholders through annual letters and the annual meeting: if a significant issue arises, Abel wrote, shareholders "will hear from me, but it will not be through quarterly commentary" 8.

Taylor Morrison, with its brands Esplanade and Yardly, is to be integrated with Clayton Properties Group, which the release describes as a collection of 15 homebuilders 9. Combined, the two delivered nearly 23,000 site-built home closings in 2025 in 21 states 9. Sheryl Palmer remains Taylor Morrison chief executive 9.

PacifiCorp agreed on 15 February 2026 to sell its Washington operations to Portland General Electric entities for a base sales price of $1.9 billion in cash 2. The transaction needs regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2027 2.

BHE and BNSF forecast capital spending of approximately $8.6 billion over the rest of 2026 2. The wildfire appeal is also pending: PacifiCorp has asked to stay the remaining damages trials, and the Oregon Supreme Court has the plaintiffs' appeal 2.

Marc Hamburg will retire from Berkshire on 1 June 2027 after helping Chang settle into the chief financial officer role 6. On BNSF, Abel wrote that the company will "be disappointed if we do not deliver a substantial improvement over the next few years" in operating margin 8.

Insurance Australia Group's 20% quota-share agreement with National Indemnity expires on 31 December 2029, and the Tokio Marine agreement runs ten years 32. For homebuilding, Taylor Morrison's integration details are not yet filed 9.

Abel wrote that Berkshire is not interested in acquiring another large railroad 8. BNSF's aim in the proposed Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger is to keep full and competitive access to Eastern rail markets 8.

Abel wrote that BHE plans to pursue growth from artificial intelligence computing demand only when risks and rewards are appropriately balanced, and that infrastructure built for data centers must be paid for by those customers 8.

He also wrote that, as Pilot's operations strengthen and capital needs normalize, he expects more cash to be returned to Berkshire 8. Berkshire says it will not repurchase shares if that takes its cash and Treasury Bills below $30 billion 2.