Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway made a huge comeback in quarter 2.Many of the businesses of investors rebounded strong after the US economy reopened.Berkshire reacted to the demand for furniture, homes, cars, private planes, and electronic parts.Check out more stories from Insider's business page.Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway was hard hit by the pandemic in 2013, but its businesses recovered strongly as the US economy opened again, according to its most recent earnings.The conglomerate of investors owns a vast collection of railroads and real-estate brokerages as well as manufacturers, retailers, distributors, distributors, service companies, and other businesses. Because it was a "real economy" company, it was more susceptible to supply-chain disruptions, coronavirus-related lockdowns and travel restrictions last year than Alphabet or Microsoft.Many of its businesses performed well in the second quarter due to rising demand for home, furniture, building products, and cars.Here are seven winners from Berkshire's second quarter.Rick Wilking/Reuters Railroads Revenue - +26% Pretax earnings - +33% Notes : Burlington Northern Santa Fe has the largest North American railroad system. Performance: As it carried more consumer (+27%) and industrial (+18%) products, as well as agricultural products (+13%) and coal (+32%) in the last quarter, its revenues increased. BNSF also benefited by retailers stocking, increased e-commerce, automotive shipments, greater volumes of construction materials and building materials. Real-estate broker Xinhua/Yang Chenglin (Xinhua/ via Getty Images). Real-estate broker revenue: +48% Pretax earnings = +129% Notes Berkshire is home to the nation's largest residential brokerage firm Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and one of the largest national franchise networks of residential real estate brokers. Berkshire Hathaway Energy houses the real-estate company. Performance: As more mortgage applications were taken out and home transactions increased, the real-estate company made significantly more profit from mortgage services and brokerage in the last quarter. Manufacturing - consumer goods A large RV. Scott Olson/Getty Images Manufacturing: consumer products Revenue: +68%. Pretax earnings are +197%. Notes: Berkshire has Forest River (RVs), Duracell(batteries), Brooks Sports, Fruit of the Loom and Brooks Sports (athletic attire and footwear) and Berkshire (apparel). Performance: Last quarter, Duracell, Brooks Sports and the apparel companies saw an increase in revenues. Forest River's first half 2021 revenue increased 59% due to rising RV sales. As retailers replenished their inventory and consumer demand increased, apparel and footwear sales rose 47%. Manufacturing - Building Products Warren Buffett takes part in the newspaper tossing competition at Clayton Home during the Berkshire Hthaway Annual Shareholders meeting at CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A. April 30, 2016. Ryan Henriksen/Reuters Manufacturing – building products Revenue: +29%. Pretax earnings are: +40%. Notes: Berkshire has Clayton Homes (manufactured homes), Shaw (flooring), Johns Manville(insulation and roofing), Acme Building Brands, Benjamin Moore (paints), Acme Building Brands and MiTek (construction engineering). Performance: Clayton's revenue grew 32% as it sold more homes and made more revenue per home sold. Pretax earnings increased 43% due to higher home sales and mortgages. The rest of the building products unit saw 27% growth in revenue. This was due to increased sales of paint, coatings, residential flooring and engineered products. Manufacturing – industrials Rogelio V. Solis/AP manufacturing – industrials Revenue: +24% Notes: Berkshire has several industrial businesses, including Lubrizol (specialty chemical), Marmon (industrial holding company), IMC (metalworking) and Precision Castparts. Performance: Lubrizol saw a 28% increase in its revenue due to higher demand for specialty chemicals. Marmon's revenue soared 48% due to higher metal prices being passed on to customers. Marmon also tapped into strong demand in the construction, automotive and restaurant markets. IMC's revenue increased 44% due to the higher sales of metal-cutting systems and tools. Services NetJets Services Revenue: +49% Pretax earnings: +180% Notes: Berkshire owns NetJets (fractional ownership of private jets), FlightSafety (pilot training), TTI (electronic-components distribution), Dairy Queen (fast food), and Business Wire (press releases). Performance: TTI's revenues rose 52% in the last quarter, as electronics companies struggled to keep their stocks stocked in the face high demand and disruptions in supply chains. Private-jet customers booked more flights and pilots accruing more training hours helped to boost aviation revenue by 56%. Retail AP Retail Revenue - +48% Pretax Earnings - +210% Notes. Berkshire has Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, See's Candies (confectionery), Nebraska Furniture Mart and Nebraska Hathaway Automotive. Performance: BHA's revenue rose 29% in 2021 due to a 30% increase in pre-owned vehicle sales. Revenues from home furnishings increased 38% in the same period. Other retailing businesses saw a 51% increase in revenue.
