Financial Associated Press reported on November 3rd (Editor: Zhao Hao) that on Saturday local time (November 2nd), Berkshire Hathaway released its performance report for the third quarter of this year.

The performance report shows that Berkshire's quarterly revenue reached $92.995 billion, slightly down from $93.21 billion in the same period last year; Operating profit was $10.09 billion, lower than analyst expectations, from $10.761 billion in the same period last year, a 6.2% year-on-year decrease.

The net income attributable to shareholders this quarter was $26.251 billion, compared to a loss of $12.767 billion in the same period last year; Berkshire Class A earnings per share were $18,272, and Class B earnings per share were $12.18.

The 10-Q form also revealed that Berkshire's investment income for the quarter was $20.514 billion, a significant improvement from the $29.778 billion loss in the same period last year; By the end of September, the company's cash reserve had surged to a record $325.2 billion from $276.9 billion in the previous quarter.

The report indicates that Berkshire sold $36.1 billion worth of stocks in Q3, including around 0.1 billion shares of Apple stocks. According to media statistics, Berkshire has sold over 0.6 billion shares of Apple stocks so far this year. Currently, its Apple holdings stand at approximately 0.3 billion shares, valued at around $69.9 billion.

This marks the eighth consecutive quarter of net stock sales for Berkshire Hathaway, with the company also refraining from any buybacks of its own stocks, a situation unseen since the second quarter of 2018. This could reflect Buffett's belief that the company's market cap of approximately $974.7 billion is overvalued.

As of Friday's closing, Berkshire Class A shares were at $0.678 million per share, showing a year-to-date increase of 24.95%; Class B shares were at $452.14, up by 26.77%; In comparison, the S&P 500 Index in the US has seen a 20.10% increase year-to-date.

CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert said that Berkshire's accumulation of cash may be a warning signal. 'Berkshire is a microcosm of the entire economy, hoarding cash indicates a defensive mindset, investors may be concerned about what this means for the economy and the market.'

Recently, some investors have started worrying about the continuously expanding fiscal deficit in the USA. Both presidential candidates in the upcoming election are not planning to cut spending to address this issue. Buffett mentioned in May that in order to offset the government deficit, he speculated that the capital gains tax rate may increase.

However, Buffett also emphasized at the time that Apple is a very good business. Unless something significant happens, when Greg Abel takes over Berkshire, the company will have stocks of Apple, Coca-Cola, and American Express on its books.