In 2021, Buffett repurchased a record $27 billion in stock, resulting in a surge in Berkshire's operating earnings.

• In the fourth quarter of 2021, the conglomerate's total operating earnings, which include profits from all its businesses, amounted to $7.285 billion.
• The company's profit increased by approximately 45% compared to the previous year's profit of $5.021 billion.
• In the fourth quarter, Berkshire spent $6.9 billion on share buybacks, resulting in a record $27 billion in share repurchases for 2021.

Berkshire Hathaway's operating profits increased in the fourth quarter and for the full year as its businesses continued to recover from the pandemic slowdown. Warren Buffett, the chairman, increased his investment in the comeback by buying back a record amount of Berkshire shares in 2021.

The conglomerate's operating earnings, which include profits from various businesses such as insurance, railroads, and utilities, totaled $7.285 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a company release posted Saturday. This represents a 45% increase from the year-earlier period's profit of $5.021 billion.

Berkshire's operating earnings increased by 25.2% from $21.992 billion in 2020 to $27.455 billion in 2021.

In the fourth quarter, Berkshire spent $6.9 billion on share repurchases, bringing the total for 2021 to approximately $27 billion. This is a record amount, up from the $24.7 billion repurchased in 2020. Although the fourth-quarter buyback pace was slower than the $7.6 billion repurchased in the third quarter, it still represents a significant investment in the company's future growth.

Although Berkshire made aggressive buybacks, its cash reserves at the end of 2021 were approximately $146.72 billion, which is only a slight decrease from the record $149.2 billion at the end of the third quarter.

In his annual shareholder letter, Buffett stated that he and Vice Chairman Munger are no longer finding big acquisitions that excite them, as they used to. Instead, they believe that share repurchases are the best way to utilize their cash at present.

By increasing your share of Berkshire's controlled and non-controlled businesses, Buffett wrote in the letter, we can increase your wealth through a simple act. This path is the easiest and most certain way to increase your wealth when the price/value equation is right.

Berkshire's fluctuating equity investments resulted in overall earnings of $39.646 billion for the quarter, an increase of approximately 10% from the previous year's earnings of $35.835 billion.

Berkshire typically underestimates the significance of quarterly fluctuations in its investment gains or losses.

Berkshire stated that the investment gains/losses in any given quarter are typically insignificant and can provide misleading net earnings per share figures to investors who lack knowledge of accounting rules.

Berkshire's railroad, utilities and energy business experienced a 12.3% increase in earnings from $1.995 billion to $2.241 billion, while its insurance-underwriting business earned $372 million after losing $299 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

This year, the earnings report reached a record high, increasing by approximately 7%.

In 2021, the company's full-year earnings exceeded $89.795 billion, which was more than double the 2020 earnings of $42.521 billion.