Warren Buffett’s profits fall on wildfire losses as thousands line up to listen to him Saturday

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/05/2025 (209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s company reported just over one-third of last year’s profit Saturday morning just as thousands of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders streamed into an Omaha arena to listen to the revered investor answer questions.

The profit numbers were weighed down by a major drop in the value of its investments and $860 million in insurance losses related to policies that its insurance companies wrote before the devastating Southern California wildfires.

Berkshire said it earned $4.6 billion, or $3,200 per Class A share, in the first quarter. That’s down from $12.7 billion, or $8,825 per Class A share, last year.

But Buffett has long recommended that investors pay more attention to Berkshire’s operating earnings because those exclude the value of its investments, which can vary widely from quarter to quarter. Berkshire must include the value of its investments in its bottom line numbers even though it hasn’t sold most of them.

By that measure, Berkshire’s earnings were still down 14% at $9.6 billion, or $6,703.41 per A share. Last year, the conglomerate reported operating earnings of $11.2 billion, or $7,796.47 per Class A share.

The analysts surveyed by FactSet Research predicted Berkshire would report operating earnings of $7,076.90 per Class A share.

But Buffett’s comments will be the main attraction Saturday. Investors will be looking for him to explain why Berkshire is now sitting on $347.7 billion cash as of the end of the first quarter, up from $334.2 billion at the end of the year. The growing cash pile is a reminder that Buffett hasn’t found any investments at attractive prices lately, but the report doesn’t show whether he bought anything in April when the market dropped after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement.

Many of Berkshire’s myriad businesses like BNSF railroad and its assortment of manufacturing and retail businesses tend to follow the economy. Berkshire said Saturday that its future results may be affected by geopolitical events and trade policy, but it’s impossible to predict what will happen.

“The pace of changes in these events, including international trade policies and tariffs, has accelerated in 2025. Considerable uncertainty remains as to the ultimate outcome of these events,” Berkshire said in the report.

But during the quarter, earnings improved at BNSF and Berkshire’s utility division while the manufacturing and retail businesses held steady. The main area where operating profits fell was in insurance underwriting, weighed down by the wildfire losses.

Geico’s underwriting profits were actually up at $2.2 billion from last year’s $1.9 billion. The results at reinsurance and primary insurance groups dragged down the insurance results.

But Berkshire managers — just like every CEO — are worrying about the potential impact of tariffs on their business. Dairy Queen CEO Troy Bader said their restaurants should be able to weather the trade war OK even thought they have thousands of locations in China because most of its ingredients are sourced locally.

But the tariffs are a greater concern to other Berkshire businesses like Brooks Running, which makes all of its shoes in Vietnam and Indonesia. Brooks CEO Dan Sheridan said his company will likely have to raise its prices because of the tariffs, but he is still waiting to see exactly which tariffs go into effect.

Edward Jones analyst Kyle Sanders said the results appear solid outside of the wildfire losses, but Berkshire continued to be a net seller of stocks by unloading $1.5 billion more than it bought during the quarter. That contributed to the growing cash pile that’s more than double where it was a year ago as Buffett has largely stayed on the sidelines while selling off much of Berkshire’s Apple stake.

But Buffett still praised Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is attending the Berkshire shareholders meeting, for all the money he has made Berkshire.

Berkshire Hathaway owns dozens of companies, including Geico, BNSF railroad, a collection of massive utilities and an assortment of retail and manufacturing businesses including well-known brands like See’s Candy. It also holds a massive stock portfolio.