Berkshire Heads Into Q3 With Revenue Forecasts Rising but Per-Share Profit Set to Slip
Published on 11/02/2026 at 16:11 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Berkshire Hathaway's third-quarter 2026 report is shaping up as a test of quality rather than sheer size. Wall Street sees the top line expanding, yet the consensus bottom line is pointing the other way — a split that puts the operating story, not October's strong market run, at the center of the agenda.
A revenue record against a softer earnings bar
Analysts are looking for revenue of $97.3 billion, according to media reports. That figure is a projection, not a reported result — it serves as the benchmark against which investors will grade the actual release. On earnings per share, the picture is more cautious: the estimate stands at $6.14, down from $6.25 a year earlier. Higher expected turnover, in other words, is not translating into a higher expected per-share result.
That divergence means top-line growth alone won't settle the question. How Berkshire performs on profit relative to forecasts will matter just as much, and the opposing estimates make one point plain — more business and more earnings per share are not the same thing in this comparison.
Portfolio moves cut both ways
Behind the quarterly numbers sits a portfolio that has been actively reshuffled. On October 27, DaVita repurchased $69,026,033 of its own stock from Berkshire. After the transaction, Berkshire still held 28,314,666 DaVita shares — a reduced stake, but far from an exit. For investors, the distinction matters: a single sale describes a change in one position and cannot be read as a verdict on the whole portfolio, especially given what happened elsewhere.
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That "elsewhere" is Bending Spoons. Berkshire's holding in the technology company reached 4%, after an initial $600 million investment at the company's IPO in July, according to Bending Spoons. The two transactions thus point in opposite directions — a trim at DaVita, a build-out at Bending Spoons. Neither a blanket retreat from technology nor a general aversion to selling stakes can be inferred from either move.
Insurance reach extends into Poland
Activity outside the equity book was just as notable. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance announced on October 19 that it would enter the Polish insurance market, naming Carsten Keune as country manager for Poland with responsibility for Central and Eastern Europe. That step concerns the insurance business, not the weighting of individual holdings — and together with the stock transactions it paints a broader picture than any single sale viewed in isolation.
UBS stays bullish as the earnings date approaches
UBS analyst Brian Meredith had set a positive valuation frame on October 22, reaffirming his buy rating and lifting the 12-month price target for the B-shares to $628. He cited valuation and Berkshire's broadly diversified earnings base as the reasons. That call preceded the coming quarterly results and does not substitute for examining them.
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Nor should the analyst action be confused with the subsequent share-price move. It does not establish that the UBS note drove October's advance; media reports on Saturday instead highlighted rotation out of technology stocks, without naming any newly announced Berkshire-specific catalyst. The upcoming release therefore offers a different proving ground than the recent market rotation, allowing investors to compare expected business figures with what is actually reported — with the relationship between revenue and profit firmly in focus.
The key yardstick is set: an expected rise in revenue does not by itself answer the earnings question. On the scheduled reporting date, what counts is whether Berkshire meets the diverging expectations for both sales and per-share profit.
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