No. of Recommendations: 1
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Berkshire Hathaway Reported Earnings. Here Are Key Takeaways.
Berkshire Hathaway’s second-quarter earnings report offered some key takeaways for investors on Saturday: Operating earnings were better than they looked due to one-time, noncash currency losses, Berkshire didn’t buy its own stock in the period, and it was a net seller of other stocks.
Warren Buffett’s conglomerate recorded a $3.8 billion noncash write-down of its more than 25% investment stake in Kraft Heinz. The move aligns the stock’s new carrying value of $8.4 billion with the market value of the stock.
Berkshire didn’t repurchase its shares in the second quarter and didn’t buy any in the first three weeks of July, according to a Barron’s analysis of the share count in the 10-Q released Saturday. Berkshire hasn’t bought any of its own stock since May 2024.
Berkshire ended the quarter with about $344 billion of cash and equivalents. Adjusting for the timing of some Treasury bill purchases in the first quarter, cash levels were up about $10 billion relative to March 31. That gives Berkshire plenty of dry powder for a potential cash bid for CSX railroad.
It was also a net seller of stocks—an indication that Buffett isn’t enamored with the current market. It bought about $4 billion of equities and sold around $7 billion for net sales of $3 billion, according to the 10-Q. That followed net sales of about $1.5 billion in the first quarter.
What’s Next: The Kraft Heinz write-down could mean that Berkshire’s stake in Occidental Petroleum will be next. Berkshire carries the Oxy investment for $16.5 billion, about $4 billion above its current market value. Berkshire owns over 25% of the energy company.
—Andrew Bary "
