Berkshire Posts Record Operating Earnings Amid Economic Turmoil

(Bloomberg) — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted record operating earnings for the year, helped by solid performance across many of the conglomerate’s subsidiaries.

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The full text of Warren Buffett’s letter to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders is available here

Key Insights

  • The Omaha, Nebraska-based firm reported $30.8 billion in operating earnings for 2022. The company’s fourth-quarter operating earnings were $6.7 billion compared with $7.3 billion the prior year

  • The company announced $2.6 billion worth of stock buybacks in the fourth quarter

  • Those figures also showed that Berkshire was a net seller of stocks in that period, which became evident after the company’s 13F filing indicated it had abruptly slashed a position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. disclosed in the prior filing

  • The company had $128.6 billion of cash on hand at the end of last year

Market Reaction

  • The company’s Class A stock gained 15% in the fourth quarter after remaining mostly static in the prior period. The stock gained roughly 4.3% last year, compared to a 19% drop reported by the S&P 500 Index in the same period.

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Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-posts-record-operating-earnings-132910227.html