Berkshire News Briefs - 11/6/14

Berkshire Hathaway is expected to release its 3rd quarter earnings after the market closes on Friday, November 7.

3 Things to Watch When Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Reports Earnings (Fool)

The elephant in the room with Berkshire Hathaway is the question surrounding what will be done with the mountain of cash it's currently sitting on. At the end of June, Berkshire had $55.5 billion in cold, hard cash sitting on its balance sheet. Astoundingly, that's nearly $20 billion more than it had in June of last year [...] In other words, in one year's time, Berkshire brought in cash roughly equivalent to the market value of Chipotle Mexican Grill. So the question becomes, what will Buffett do with all of that cash?

How Buffett's Brooks Running plans to become a $1 billion brand (Fortune)

Brooks Running Co., a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, hit the $500 million mark in annual sales last April. The company hit that milestone as a result of CEO Jim Weber’s efforts over a decade to specialize on running, rather than trying to be a mini-Nike and be all things to all people. The result is a 13% share of the performance running shoe market (Nike is in the low 40’s). Weber, CEO since 2001, says the company can become a billion-dollar brand at some point thanks to an overhaul to its apparel selection hitting stores in a year, a continued focus on marketing to runners specifically and sponsoring the right running events.

Crash into flight simulator company stops training (HutchNews)

(FlightSafety has been owned by Berkshire Hathaway since 1996.)

A twin-engine Beechcraft King Air crashed into the FlightSafety Cessna Pilot Learning Center on Thursday, killing the pilot and three people inside flight simulators. The cause of the crash, which also seriously damaged the building, is still being investigated. [...] FlightSafey will "definitely have to scramble" but has a large network to help and is good at managing situations, said Rolland Vincent, an aviation consultant. "This is very disruptive," Vincent said. "These flight simulators are very busy and are booked well in advance."

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FlightSafety operates five centers in Wichita (The Wichita Eagle)

The building struck by a Beechcraft King Air B200 at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport shortly after takeoff Thursday is one of FlightSafety International’s five centers in Wichita. Wichita has the highest concentration of FlightSafety centers in the world, the company has said. Pilots and maintenance technicians come to Wichita from around the world to train in Cessna, Learjet, Beechcraft and Hawker products.

Three bets going sour on Buffett (MarketWatch)

(Referencing losses with Tesco, IBM, and Coca-Cola.)

Judging by the share price alone, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is having a terrific 2014. After all, Berkshire Hathaway is up 17.7% year to date, trouncing the 7.95% rise in S&P 500. [...] Recently, several of Buffett's high-profile bets have fallen out of bed. Each stumble has its own particular explanation. But taken together, they share an overarching theme. The moats that protect these businesses aren't as wide as they once were. Even worse, competitors aren't even bothering to try to cross them. They're just inventing a completely different way of doing business.

MidAmerican Signs Longterm Wind-Power Services Deal With Siemens (Bloomberg Businessweek)

MidAmerican Energy Co., the utility owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has signed an agreement through June 2024 with Siemens AG to support a dozen wind farms in Iowa. Siemens will provide service and maintenance for 958 turbines that will have a combined capacity of more than 2.2 gigawatts, according to a statement today. Financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.

Buffett Railroad’s Shale Focus Blunts Ports’ Comeback Bid (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Seattle and Tacoma are being stymied in their push to regain market share from Canada as railcars destined for the harbors sit idle on tracks across the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Even as the ports, on Washington’s Puget Sound, agreed to consolidate some operations after a century of competition, 40-fold growth in shipments of crude from the Bakken oil fields is straining the region’s main railroad company, BNSF Railway Co., causing delays that have helped shift traffic to less congested harbors in Canada. In September, as many as 150 grain cars piled up in nearby rail yards, said Dale Frazier, manager of Seattle Bulk Shipping Inc.

Forest River, Thor Foundation to Aid Employees (RV Business)

Forest River Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, and publicly held Thor Industries Inc. yesterday (Nov. 4) announced the establishment of an unprecedented community foundation set up to benefit the 15,000-plus employees of the two RV-building corporate giants and their families during times of need. The Forest River/Thor Community Foundation will be jointly funded by the two companies and will provide grants of up to $20,000 per qualifying employee or family to help cover emergency financial needs incurred in a variety of unforeseen family crises such as acute illnesses, natural disasters, fires or other hardships. Both firms are based in Elkhart, Ind.