Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said third-quarter operating profit rose 6.6 percent on contributions from newly acquired manufacturing businesses.

Operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, climbed to $4.85 billion, or $2,951 a share, from $4.55 billion, or $2,769, a year earlier, according to a statement Friday from the Omaha, Nebraska-based company. That missed the average $3,058-a-share estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net income fell 24 percent from a year earlier when Buffett booked a large gain on an investment in Kraft Heinz Co.

Buffett, 86, has long told shareholders that they should focus on the underlying earnings of Berkshire’s operating businesses, rather than one-time gains or losses on securities. Since the beginning of the year, he’s added to his company’s stable of subsidiaries, completing deals for battery-maker Duracell and Precision Castparts Corp., a global supplier to the aerospace industry.

That’s helped boost Berkshire’s Class A shares 8.5 percent in 2016 to $214,545 at 4 p.m. in New York, beating the 2 percent gain in the S&P 500 Index. The statement was released after the close of regular trading.

The manufacturing, service and retail segment, which includes Precision Castparts and Duracell, contributed $1.7 billion to earnings, compared with $1.18 billion a year earlier. Buffett completed the acquisition of Precision in the first quarter in one of his largest deals.

Book value, a measure of assets minus liabilities, rose to $163,783 per share at the end of September from $160,009 three months earlier. The cash pile rose to a record $84.8 billion from $72.7 billion on June 30.

Wrigley Gain

Berkshire had a gain of $2.35 billion on derivatives and investments, driven by the sale of preferred stock in chewing-gum maker Wrigley. That compares with a gain of $4.88 billion a year earlier. Net income fell to $7.2 billion from the record $9.43 billion in last year’s third quarter.

Berkshire’s subsidiaries represent a cross-section of U.S. business, including insurers and manufacturers, a railroad, electric utilities and retailers. Buffett, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, has long been optimistic about the prospects for the world’s largest economy, and says frequently that the country’s “best days lie ahead.”

Jobs data out Friday bolstered that view. Average hourly earnings of workers climbed 2.8 percent in October from a year earlier, the fastest pace in seven years. The Labor Department report also showed payrolls rose at a steady pace and the broadest rate of unemployment fell to an eight-year low.