Warren Buffett’s investment holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, has opened its books.
Berkshire Hathaway’s quarterly results are regularly eagerly awaited by investors. On Saturday, the star investor opened his books and gave an insight into the business development in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Operating profit was $8.481 billion in the final quarter of 2023, up 28 percent from $6.625 billion last year.
Earnings per A share were $5,881 after $4,116 a year ago. The investment holding company thus performed 30 percent better than expected in the fourth quarter of 2022. Analysts had previously estimated EPS of $5,717.
Buffett’s holding company also held $167.6 billion in cash in the fourth quarter, a record that exceeds the $157.2 billion the conglomerate held in the previous quarter.
Annual balance sheet of Buffett Holding
For the full year 2023, Berkshire Hathaway reported operating profit of $37.35 billion – also an increase of 17 percent compared to the previous year’s figure of $30.853 billion.
Buffett’s investment vehicles include the insurer Geico, the railway company BNSF and the battery manufacturer Duracell. The insurance business was a driver for the increase in operating profit last year.
The holding company’s net profit was $96 billion after a loss of $23 billion a year earlier. But Buffett himself described this number as “worse than useless” because it is distorted by book profits and losses and only provides limited information about the economy in a certain period of time.
Buffett pays tribute to Munger in letter to shareholders
In the letter to shareholders, Buffett also paid tribute to his long-time companion Charlie Munger, who died at the end of November a few weeks before his 100th birthday. Munger was the true architect of Berkshire Hathaway, emphasized Buffett. For himself, Munger was “partly an older brother, partly a loving father.”
In addition, the 93-year-old hardly sees any exciting investment properties at the moment. There are only “a handful” of companies in the USA that could make big leaps for his holding company – and he and others have had their eye on them for a long time, it said in the annual report for 2023 on Saturday. Buffett sees no suitable candidates for investing abroad.
13 F discloses Berkshire depot
Most recently, Buffett Holding had to disclose Form 13 to the SEC for the fourth quarter of 2023. All holdings of the investment vehicle are listed here. Paramount shares no longer made it into the star investor’s top 15.
Berkshire Hathaway slightly in the red after record high
Berkshire Hathaway’s B shares continued their record rally brilliantly on Monday, moving closer to the $1 trillion mark in terms of market valuation. The holding of the legendary investor Warren Buffett would be the first US stock outside the technology sector to break this sound barrier.
Surprisingly positive business figures caused the shares to skyrocket by three percent to $430 in early trading. Shortly afterwards, however, profit-taking began and the shares slipped into the red. At the close of trading they fell by 1.94 percent to around $409.14. Berkshire Hathaway is currently worth a good $905 billion. The holding’s A shares are now trading 2.16 percent lower at $615,356.
The holding’s net profit was $96 billion in the past financial year, following a loss of $23 billion a year earlier. But Buffett himself described this number as “worse than useless” because it is distorted by book profits and losses and only provides limited information about the economy in a certain period of time. In the final quarter of last year, the operating result increased more than expected year-on-year.
The fact that the holding company currently has record cash reserves of more than 160 billion dollars caused more discussion. Buffett currently sees hardly any exciting investment properties. In the USA there are only “a handful” of companies that could make big leaps for Berkshire Hathaway – and he and others have had their eye on them for a long time, according to the annual report for 2023. The investor sees no suitable candidates abroad the investment.
“The grandmaster is cautious,” wrote Konstantin Oldenburger, market analyst at trading house CMC Markets. Buffett is currently unable to find any stocks that he can or wants to buy at reasonable prices. The experienced investor may be waiting for a turning point in the markets.
Editorial team finanzen.net / dpa-AFX
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