Berkshire Hathaway earnings 2024 Q2

Berkshire Hathaway‘s cash pile grew to a record $276.9 billion last quarter, as Warren Buffett sold off large chunks of his stock, including Apple.

The Omaha-based conglomerate’s cash hoard rose significantly above the previous record of $189 billion set in the first quarter of 2024. The increase came after the Oracle of Omaha sold almost half of its stake in the Tim Cook-led technology giant had sold. quarter.

Berkshire has been a stock seller for seven consecutive quarters, but that sale accelerated recently, with Buffett losing more than $75 billion in shares in the second quarter. This brings the total of shares sold in the first half of 2024 to more than $90 billion. Buffett’s selling has continued in some areas in the third quarter, with Berkshire cutting its second-largest holding, Bank of America, for 12 straight days, this week’s filing showed.

For the second quarter, Berkshire’s operating results, which include profits from the conglomerate’s entire business, saw a jump thanks to the strength of auto insurer Geico. Operating income was $11.6 billion in the second quarter, up about 15% from $10 billion a year earlier.

Buffett, who turns 94 at the end of the month, admitted at Berkshire’s annual meeting in May that he is willing to deploy capital, but that high prices are making him hesitate.

“We’d like to spend it, but we won’t spend it unless we think about it [a business is] doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money,” the investment icon said at the time. ‘It’s not like I’m on a hunger strike or anything like that. It’s just that… things aren’t attractive.”

The conglomerate repurchased just $345 million of its own stock in the second quarter, significantly less than the $2 billion repurchased in each of the previous two quarters.

The S&P 500 has risen to record levels over the past two years as investors counted on the Federal Reserve to lower inflation with higher interest rates while avoiding an economic recession. So far it has succeeded, with the S&P 500 up 12% through 2024. However, concerns about a slowing economy have been fueled recently by some weak data, including Friday’s disappointing July jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 600 points on Friday. Investors have also become concerned lately about valuations in the technology sector, which has led the bull market on optimism around artificial intelligence innovation.

Geico, the company that Buffett once called his “favorite child,” posted nearly $1.8 billion in pretax underwriting profits in the second quarter, more than tripling its $514 million level from a year ago.

Take advantage of € BNSF Railroadcame in at $1.6 billion, in line with last year’s number. Berkshire Hathaway EnergyThe utilities sector saw profits fall to $326 million, almost half of the $624 million in the same quarter a year ago. BHE remains under pressure over potential wildfire liability.

Berkshire’s net income, including short-term investment gains or losses, fell to $30.3 billion in the second quarter, compared with $35.9 billion in the same period a year ago. Buffett warns investors not to pay attention to quarterly fluctuations in unrealized gains on investments, which can be “extremely misleading.”