One day after billionaire Donald Trump was dumped from a Republican campaign gathering over his suggestion that a Fox News anchor was on her period during Thursday’s candidate debate, the front-runner in polls for the 2016 U.S. presidential nomination refused to apologize and insisted his views on women were being misunderstood.
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Berkshire Hathaway, the sprawling industrial empire that includes Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and Fruit of the Loom underwear, is near a deal to buy the metal parts manufacturer Precision Castparts, a person briefed on the matter said.
The four analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Berkshire to report operating earnings per Class A share of $2,997.14.
“In effect, the world is Berkshire’s oyster – a world offering us a range of opportunities far beyond those realistically open to most companies”, Buffett wrote in his most recent annual letter to Berkshire shareholders. This is the going to be the Buffet’s largest acquisition to date.
Berkshire officials do not typically comment on their quarterly earnings reports, and they did not immediately respond to an interview request on Friday.
While having a cash pile of about $67 billion for potential deals, Berkshire Hathaway already controls a 3 percent stake in the Precision Castparts which has a market capitalization of $26.7 billion and employs about 30,000 people. The Journal said the deal could be announced as soon as this week.
In 2013, it teamed up with hedge fund 3G Capital to acquire H.J. Heinz. Berkshire owns 27 percent of the new Kraft Heinz.
“That’s the real positive of the year, and that will come in the third quarter”, Kilpatrick said.
The purchase comes as Berkshire earlier reported a 37% decline in its profit for the second quarter due to lower investment gains and underwriting losses in core insurance business.
Berkshire’s BNSF railroad generated $963 million net income, up from $916 a year ago, despite relatively flat volume and weaker demand for coal and crude oil shipments.
Over the last five years, the company’s shares have underperformed the S&P 500 by almost 30 percentage points. The utility unit was helped by last year’s acquisition of Canadian power transmission company Altalink and by higher electricity rates in Iowa.
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The purchase would be among Berkshire’s largest and would dwarf the firm’s purchases in 2014. It also has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola, IBM and Wells Fargo & Co.
