Berkshire Set For Record Q3 Profit As Kraft Heinz Merger Offsets a few

(NYSE:BRK.B) to report on November, 6. its quarterly earningsWall Street analysts expect $1.90 EPS, down $0.01 or 0.52% from last year's $1.91 same quarter earnings. The company makes complex metal parts for the aerospace industry and will be among the largest businesses at Berkshire when the takeover is completed next year.

One thing's for sure: No matter who's next in line for the throne, Warren Buffett's gonna be one tough act to follow.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Co.is expected to report record third-quarter earnings thanks to a one-time accounting gain related to this year's merger of Kraft Heinz Co., in which it remains the biggest shareholder. His company, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A)(NYSE:BRK-B), just posted record earnings in the third quarter, though you wouldn't know it from the company's traditionally nondescript news release.

The number important to investors here is operating earnings per Class A equivalent share, which clocked in at a whopping $2,769.

While lower energy prices pressured revenue growth in its railroad and energy divisions, it also dramatically reduced costs, and lower fuel costs helped reduce expenses by $290 million year-over-year. It badly hit second quarter numbers. The insurance float grew to $86.2 billion, up from $83 billion during the year-ago period. The conglomerate purchased Heinz in 2013 for $28 billion.

BRK operates across three divisions: Insurance and Other, Railroad, Utilities and Energy, and Finance and Financial Products. Berkshire, which controlled 55 percent of Heinz before the transaction, now owns 27 percent of the combined company.

An assortment of smaller businesses, from its real estate brokerage to Clayton Homes, made up 43% of Berkshire's operating income.

Though operating profits fell roughly 4% this quarter from a year ago, it's notable that the decline was led by its insurance companies, which simply aren't supposed to grow earnings in a perfectly straight line.