Warren Buffett takes the ground before Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting on May 3, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.
David A. Grogen | CNBC
Berkshire Hathaway reported an enormous year-over-year jump in first-quarter operating profits on Saturday, while its money holdings rose to record levels.
The Warren Buffett-led conglomerate reported operating profit – which incorporates income from the corporate’s wholly-owned businesses – rising 39% to $11.22 billion in comparison with the identical period last yr.
This increase was driven by a 185% year-over-year increase in insurance revenue from just $911 million to $2.598 billion. Geico’s profits rose 174% to $1.928 billion from $703 million a yr earlier. Income from insurance investments also increased by 32% to over $2.5 billion.
Berkshire’s rail business generated a profit of $1.14 billion, down barely from the primary quarter of 2023. The energy division saw profits almost double to $717 million from $416 million last yr.
First-quarter net income, which takes into consideration fluctuations from Berkshire’s stock investments, fell 64% to $12.7 billion. Every quarter, Buffett calls these unrealized investment gains (or losses) meaningless and misleading, however the unique corporation is required to report these numbers based on generally accepted accounting principles.
Record money reserves
The company’s money balance reached a record $188.99 billion, up from $167.6 billion within the fourth quarter. This massive holding, well above a CFRA Research estimate of greater than $170 billion, suggests that Buffett is unable to search out an appropriate large takeover goal – something he has complained about in recent times .
Of course, Berkshire reduced its Apple stake by 13%. However, the iPhone maker remained Berkshire’s largest stock holding.
Berkshire also repurchased $2.6 billion in shares, up from $2.2 billion within the fourth quarter of 2023.
The report comes ahead of the corporate’s annual shareholder meeting, often called “Woodstock for capitalists.” Buffett will answer shareholder questions on every thing from the conglomerate’s holdings to his thoughts on investing and the economy.
This may even be the primary annual meeting because the death of Vice Chairman Charlie Munger in November.
Berkshire Class A shares have risen greater than 11% because the start of the yr, reaching an all-time high in late February. The Class B stock has now gained greater than 12% in that period.
Check out CNBC’s full coverage of this yr’s annual meeting Here.
