Occidental Top-Up and a Fresh UBS Target Put Berkshire's Earnings Power on the Clock

Berkshire Hathaway has nudged its stake in Occidental Petroleum higher, extending a position it already holds rather than opening a new one. The same week brought a separate capital commitment — 10 million newly issued shares of Bending Spoons at $33 apiece, a private placement worth $330 million that Bending Spoons says will lift Berkshire's holding to roughly 4% once the deal closes.

Both moves say something about how Berkshire is deploying its cash. Neither, on its own, says anything about whether the conglomerate is earning more from its businesses. That distinction matters with UBS lifting its price target on the A-shares from $906,011 to $942,405 while keeping a Buy rating, and with quarterly results expected on 7 November, according to a Bloomberg report.

What the Second Quarter Already Showed

The case for the higher target rests partly on numbers Berkshire has already reported. Operating profit in the second quarter of 2026 rose 16% year on year, and net income came in at $25.67 billion. Insurance operations benefited from solid underwriting results in a quarter free of major catastrophe losses. Manufacturing, services and retail all grew revenue, helped along by the OxyChem acquisition.

Strip out the bright spots and the picture gets more uneven. BNSF trailed Union Pacific on profitability. Berkshire Hathaway Energy absorbed wildfire litigation and regulatory obstacles. Whether the weaker units are making headway — and how insurance performs — will matter as much to the next set of figures as the group's overall growth rate.

$360 Billion That Earns Its Keep

Cash holdings of roughly $360 billion are doing more than waiting for a deal. They generate interest income that supplements the cash flows from insurance, utilities and rail, a combination that helps explain Berkshire's appeal in a market where investors have been leaning toward quality and away from risk. None of that diminishes the importance of how the individual operating segments perform.

The Occidental purchase is a concrete example of capital being put to work. The Bending Spoons agreement is another, though it carries its own caveat: a signed deal is not a completed one.

Rotation Is Not an Earnings Report

Market commentary has attributed part of Berkshire's recent run to a broad rotation out of volatile technology stocks. Such shifts can favor the shares without any change in the business outlook — and they can reverse just as quickly. That is why the 7 November report looms as the real test of the record run. Investors will be able to judge whether operating growth and interest income justify the raised expectations, and whether strength is spread across the portfolio or still concentrated in a few earnings sources.

UBS's forecast of a moderate year-on-year increase in third-quarter operating profit is just that — a forecast. It is not a reported improvement, nor confirmation that the recent investments are adding to operating earnings. Capital allocation and earning power deserve to be weighed separately. Until the figures land, the Occidental top-up stands as evidence of further investment, nothing more.