Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway's stock surges after earnings, first buybacks in 6 years

Singapore News News

Shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Class B) surged 2.6% in premarket trade Monday, after the company revealed over the weekend better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and that it bought back stock for the first time in six years. The company disclosed it bought back $928 million worth of Class A and Class B shares during the quarter. The last time the company repurchased shares was December 2012, when it paid about $1.3 billion to buy back it's stock, including $1.24 billion to buy 9,475 Class A shares at an average price of $131,065.62 and $53.8 million to buy 606,499 Class B shares at $88.76. Through Friday's closing prices, the Class A shares have gained 135% and the Class B shares have rallied 133%. In comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 93% since the end of 2012 through Friday. Separately, the company reported third-quarter net earnings of $18.54 billion, or $7.52 per Class B share, compared with $4.07 billion, or $1.65 a share in the same period a year ago, boosted by equity security investment gains of about $11.4 billion included as a result of changes in accounting rules.