Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) (NYSE:BRK.A) bought back $6.9B of its shares in Q4 2021. All told, Berkshire (BRK.B) bought back $27B of its own shares in 2021, up from the $24.7B it repurchased in 2020.
Q4 operating earnings of $7.29B vs. $6.47B in Q3 and $5.02B in Q4, a 45% Y/Y jump as insurance underwriting reversed from a year-ago loss. Railroad, energy, and utilities earnings also contributed to the gain as well as a healthy increase in "other businesses."
Insurance float was ~$147B at Dec. 31, 2021 vs. ~$145B at Sept. 30.
Operating earnings by segment:
Insurance underwriting — $372M vs. -$299M a year ago.
Insurance - investment income — $1.22B vs. $1.27B
Railroad, utilities, and energy —$2.24B vs. $2.00B.
Other businesses — $2.79B vs. $2.47B
Other — $662M vs. -$412M
Q4 net earnings, which includes investment and derivatives gains or losses (most of which is unrealized), were $39.6B, or $17.79 per class B share. That compares with $10.3B or $4.59 per class B share, in Q3 and $35.8B, or $15.34 per share, in Q4 2020.