U.S. Movers: Berkshire Hathaway, Bluegreen Vacations, Citigroup, Dish Network

Scott Peters
06 Nov, 2023
New York City

Bluegreen Vacation Holding Corp. soared 108.8% to $73.09 after the company agreed to be acquired by Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. for $75.0 per share in an all-cash transaction.

The transaction values the company at $1.5 billion, including net debt.

Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. declined 9.4% to $33.75.

Citigroup added 0.1% to $42.31, and the bank is looking to trim as many as 10,000 jobs from its total payroll of 240,000.

The news was first reported by CNBC without naming sources.

Berkshire Hathaway Class B increased 0.6% to $353.99 after the reinsurance-anchored diversified conglomerate reported a surge in quarterly profits.

Operating earnings in the third quarter increased 40% to $10.76 billion from $7.6 billion, driven by a sharp increase in its insurance business.

Insurance underwriting swung to a profit of $2.4 billion from a loss of $1.07 billion, and insurance investment income soared to $2.5 billion from $1.4 billion a year ago.

Investment income jumped after interest rates jumped in the twelve-month period to the end of the third quarter, after the Federal Reserve carried out its aggressive rate hike campaign between March 2022 and June 2023.

Total revenues increased to $93.2 billion from $76.9 billion, net loss attributable to shareholders increased to $12.7 billion from $2.7 billion, and diluted loss per Class A share increased to $8,824 from $1,907 a year ago.

Based on GAAP accounting, net income also reflected the quarterly unrealized investment losses of $29.8 billion compared to $13.5 billion in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Cash and equivalent securities held by the company at the end of September jumped to $157.2 billion from $128.5 billion a year ago.

Dish Network Corp. dropped 20% to $4.39 after the communication company reported third-quarter financial results.

Revenue in the third quarter declined 9.5% to $3.7 billion from $4.1 billion, and the company swung to a net loss of $116.8 million from a profit of $429.6 million, and diluted earnings per share were a loss of 26 cents compared to 65 cents a year ago.

In the quarter, Pay TV subscribers fell by 64,000, and the loss of wireless subscribers accelerated, ending the quarter with 7.5 million retail wireless subscribers.

Retail wireless net subscribers decreased by approximately 225,000 in the third quarter, compared to a net increase of 1,000 in the year-ago quarter.

In addition, the company agreed to sell its wireless spectrum assets and about 120,000 wireless subscribers in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to Liberty Latin America.

The sale of the assets and subscriber base was valued at $256 million, paid in cash and international roaming credits, and the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024.

The company announced the resignation of CEO Erik Carlson effective November 12, and Hamid Akhavan, the current CEO of EchoStar Corp., is expected to lead the company.