Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway’s operating earnings per share for the fourth quarter, which exclude changes in the value of the company’s investment portfolio, fell 7%, the company said Saturday. Berkshire Hathaway’s operating earnings declined 8% in the fourth quarter to $6.7 billion after taxes, hurt by a drop in profits at the company’s railroad business and a decline in the U.S. dollar. Excluding the dollar’s fall, which increased the value of the company’s BRK.A, +0.51% BRK.B, +0.31% foreign-currency debt, Berkshire’s operating earnings for the period would have risen about 13% from the fourth quarter of 2021, to $7.9 billion. This is more indicative of the company’s earnings power, given that quarterly currency volatility has little impact on Berkshire’s underlying earnings power. Stock repurchases totaled $2.6 billion, up from $1 billion in the third quarter, bringing the total for 2022 to $7.9 billion. That’s down sharply from $27 billion in 2021 and $24.7 billion in 2020. Berkshire’s operating earnings per share for the fourth quarter, which exclude changes in the value of the company’s investment portfolio, fell 7% to about $4,585 per class A share, Barron’s estimates. That fell short of the FactSet consensus estimate of $5,305 a share. Berkshire’s […]