Warren Buffett.Gerald Miller | CNBCBerkshire Hathaway’s operating profits fell during the fourth quarter as inflationary pressures weighed on the conglomerate’s businesses.Berkshire Hathaway’s operating earnings totaled $6.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, a release read Saturday. That’s down 7.9% from the year-earlier period when profits totaled $7.285 billion. Operating earnings refers to the total profits made from the businesses owned by the conglomerate.Earnings from Berkshire’s railroad, utilities and energy businesses came in at $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, which is slightly down from the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the firm’s insurance-underwriting business fell to $244 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, down from $372 million the year-earlier period.For the year, the conglomerate’s operating earnings totaled $30.793 billion. That’s up 12.2% from $27.455 billion in 2021.Meanwhile, Berkshire used $2.855 billion to buy back shares in the fourth quarter. That’s lower than the year-earlier period when share repurchases totaled more than $6 billion but more than the third quarter’s repurchase total of around $1 billion. For the year, Berkshire bought back nearly $8 billion in common stock.Despite this, Berkshire’s cash hoard grew to $128.651 billion …
