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    Berkshire’s Cash Stockpile Soars as It Cuts Its Stake in Apple

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    The conglomerate reported nearly $277 billion in cash in the second quarter. And while it sold about 390 million shares in Apple, it still owned about 400 million.Cash at Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by Warren E. Buffett, soared to nearly $277 billion in the second quarter as it sold a large chunk of its stake in Apple.Berkshire reported on Saturday that it had sold about 390 million Apple shares in the quarter, after selling 115 million shares from January to March, as Apple’s stock price rose 23 percent. It still owned about 400 million shares worth $84.2 billion as of June 30.The cash stake grew to $276.9 billion from $189 billion three months earlier largely because Berkshire sold $75.5 billion in stocks, including shares in Bank of America. The conglomerate said its stake in the bank was worth $41.1 billion as of June 30. It was the seventh straight quarter Berkshire sold more stocks than it bought.Second-quarter profit from Berkshire’s dozens of businesses rose 15 percent to $11.6 billion from $10.04 billion a year earlier. Nearly half of that profit came from Berkshire’s insurance businesses, which include Geico. The higher insurance earnings, it said, reflected increased revenue from premiums, rising investment income as well as the fact there were no significant catastrophic events.Berkshire’s net income fell 15 percent to $30.34 billion from $35.91 billion a year earlier, when it benefited from rising stock prices that boosted the value of its investments.Mr. Buffett has long urged shareholders to ignore Berkshire’s quarterly investment gains and losses, which often lead to outsize net profits or net losses.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Berkshire Reports Strong Earnings and Formidable Cash Stockpile

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      The company also disclosed in its first-quarter earnings that it had trimmed its stake in Apple, but Warren Buffett, its C.E.O., said he remained a fan of Apple.Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday reported strong operating earnings, which track the actual profit that its array of businesses produce, and a record pile of cash in the first quarter, underscoring the health of the conglomerate run by Warren E. Buffett.The results provided a positive backdrop for Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting in downtown Omaha, the company’s hometown. It is the first such gathering for Mr. Buffett’s business empire since the death in November of Charles Munger, Mr. Buffett’s longtime business partner and alter ego, at age 99.Saturday’s results underscore Mr. Buffett’s repeated admonition that the best way to judge Berkshire — a collection of businesses that includes a major railroad, a substantial power-generation business, insurance, consumer brands including Fruit of the Loom and more — is on operating earnings, not net income.For the first three months of the year, Berkshire reported $12.7 billion in earnings attributable to its shareholders, down 64 percent from the same time a year ago. Driving the drop was a steep fall in the paper value of Berkshire’s vast investment portfolio though Mr. Buffett has long warned shareholders to ignore fluctuations in the company’s stock holdings.Berkshire also disclosed that it had trimmed its huge stake in Apple, which Mr. Buffett has called one of his company’s most important holdings, by about 13 percent in the quarter. The value of its stake is now about $135.4 billion, down from $174.3 billion at the end of 2023. (Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, is attending the annual meeting.)But Mr. Buffett said that he remains a big fan of Apple, suggesting that the stock sale was to take some profits off the table. “I would say that at the end of the year it would be extremely likely that Apple would be the largest common stock holding we have now,” he told shareholders on Saturday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Berkshire Hathaway Reports Profit of $97 Billion Last Year, a Record

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      The conglomerate saw major gains in its insurance operations and in investment income. But revenues at its railroad and utility businesses declined from 2022.Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run for decades by Warren E. Buffett, recorded its highest-ever annual profit last year. But its chief executive found reason to blame government regulation for hurting the results of some of its biggest businesses.In his letter to investors that traditionally accompanies the annual report, Mr. Buffett also paid tribute to Charlie Munger, his longtime lieutenant and Berkshire’s vice chairman until his death in November at age 99.The company — whose divisions include insurance, the BNSF railroad, an expansive power utility, Brooks running shoes, Dairy Queen and See’s candy — disclosed $97.1 billion in net earnings last year, a sharp swing from its $22 billion loss in 2022 because of investment declines.Berkshire also reported $37.4 billion in operating earnings, the financial metric that Mr. Buffett prefers because it excludes paper investment gains and losses, for the year, up 21 percent from 2022. (Investors often see Berkshire as a bellwether of the American economy, given the breadth of its business.)Those gains arose from the powerful engine at the heart of Berkshire, its vast insurance operations that include Geico car insurance and reinsurance. The division reported $5.3 billion in after-tax earnings for 2023, reversing from a loss in the previous year thanks to fewer significant catastrophic events, rate increases and fewer claims at Geico.The business that Berkshire is best known for, stock investments using the enormous cash that the insurance business throws off, also performed well last year. Investment income jumped nearly 48 percent amid rising market valuations. (About 79 percent of the conglomerate’s investment income comes from just five companies: Apple, Bank of America, American Express, Coca-Cola and Chevron.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More