Berkshire reported on Saturday that they have $ 128 billion in cash, up from $ 122 billion in the second quarter.
Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKA ) has left the market this year, and Buffett has said he wants to make an "elephant" size with the company's mountains of cash. The problem is that the market rally has made potential targets much more expensive, and Buffett has said he will not overspend on deals.
Berkshire's operating profit rose to $ 7.9 billion, up from $ 6.9 billion a year earlier, increased by gains across ownership interests. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company's performance is linked to its many subsidiaries ̵
But the company's largest stake now is Apple ( AAPL ) and Berkshire even has a small stake in Amazon ( AMZN ) .
Berkshire Hathaway also bought $ 700 million of its own stock in the third quarter, up from $ 442 million it bought the previous quarter. The company purchased $ 1.7 billion of its own shares in the first quarter.
Previously, the company did not allow share repurchases. The board changed a rule last year to allow the company to buy back billions of dollars, a practice that has been criticized by some analysts for inflating stock prices.