BRK.B
Buffett's machine keeps printing
Berkshire Hathaway's second quarter looked like the kind of quarter that makes accountants do a double take. Net earnings attributable to shareholders surged to $25.667 billion, up from $12.370 billion a year earlier. On a per-share basis, that's $17,868 for Class A shares versus $8,601 last year.
Why you should care
This isn't just a brag-worthy number for the annual letter crowd. Berkshire is a sprawling mix of insurers, railroads, utilities, manufacturers, and a giant portfolio of stocks, so its earnings can swing around like a roller coaster at the county fair. Still, a jump this big usually gets investors leaning in.
The big picture
For Berkshire holders, the headline takeaway is simple: the conglomerate is still throwing off a lot of profit. The more useful question is what helped the jump and whether it came from the operating businesses, investment gains, or both. That mix matters, because one is the engine and the other can be a very moody passenger.
Big picture: when Berkshire flexes like this, it tends to remind the market that boring can be beautiful — especially when boring owns a rail network, an insurance empire, and a mountain of cash.