Benzinga | Aug 9, 2021 07:14AM EDT

Berkshire Hathaway's Operating Earnings Jump 21%, Repurchases $6 Billion Of Its Stock



* Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) has repurchased $6 billion of its own stock in the second quarter, bringing the total buybacks to more than $37 billion since the end of 2019, Bloomberg reports.

* The company's second-quarter operating profit rose 21% to $6.69 billion, about $4,424 per Class A share, from $5.51 billion, about $3,463 per share.

* The net income, including gains from investments such as Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), rose 7% to $28.1 billion, or $18,488 per Class A share, from $26.3 billion, or $16,314 per share, a year earlier.

* Chairman and CEO Buffett has been buying back Berkshire shares instead of making new acquisitions.

* In 2020, the company bought $24.7 billion of its own stock.

* According to Berkshire's second-quarter report, earnings from railroads, utilities, and energy jumped more than 27% from a year ago in the period to $2.26 billion.

* "The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected nearly all of our operations during 2020 and in particular during the second quarter, although the effects varied significantly," Berkshire said in the earnings report.

* Berkshire has said that the risks from the pandemic remain and could impact its results in the future.

* At the end of June, Berkshire's cash pile stood at $144.1 billion.

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