Berkshire Hathaway said on Saturday that it repurchased more than $5bn of its own shares in the third quarter. The figure in its quarterly filing was the conglomerate's largest buyback since 2021, during Greg Abel's first year as chief executive. The Omaha-based company published its results before US markets reopen on Monday.

The repurchases built on a sharp acceleration earlier in the year. Berkshire bought back about $234m of stock in the first quarter and roughly $4.5bn in the second. It then spent more than $3.3bn in July alone, according to figures it disclosed before the third-quarter report. Under Berkshire's policy, buybacks occur only when the chief executive and Howard G. Buffett, who is chairman, judge the shares to be below intrinsic value.

The filing also showed Berkshire's cash and Treasury bill holdings still above $300bn. The company had already become a net buyer of equities in the second quarter, with almost $20bn of net purchases according to its August filing. That ended a run of net selling that began in 2022. Operating earnings from businesses including BNSF Railway, Berkshire Hathaway Energy and the Geico insurance unit were reported alongside the investment figures.

Analysts who follow the company said the scale of the buyback showed that Mr Abel was willing to deploy cash more readily than his predecessor had in recent years. The results came at the end of a volatile week on Wall Street. US stocks fell sharply after the midterm election results, according to market coverage on Thursday. A lower share price for Berkshire's class B stock gave the company more room to repurchase at a discount.

Investors will look for further detail on capital allocation in Mr Abel's next annual letter to shareholders, due in February 2027. Berkshire typically gives no forward guidance and does not hold earnings calls. Its shares are expected to react when trading resumes on Monday.