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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B) reported on Saturday that fourth-quarter operating earnings surged more than 70% year-over-year.
The conglomerate posted operating earnings of $14.53 billion, up from $8.48 billion a year ago. Berkshire’s total 2024 operating earnings came to $47.44 billion, a 27% rise from $37.35 billion the prior year.
The Q4 results were powered by insurance underwriting, whose operating earnings skyrocketed more than 300% to $3.41 billion.
«In 2024, Berkshire did better than I expected though 53% of our 189 operating businesses reported a decline in earnings,» Buffett wrote in his annual letter to shareholders. «We were aided by a predictable large gain in investment income as Treasury Bill yields improved and we substantially increased our holdings of these highly liquid short-term securities.»
Berkshire ended the year with a record $334.2 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments in U.S. Treasury bills. Last quarter, Berkshire registered operating earnings of $10.1 billion and its cash pile swelled to more than $320 billion as it trimmed its stakes in Apple (AAPL) and Bank of America (BAC).
During the fourth quarter, Berkshire exited its position in Ulta Beauty (ULTA) after buying into it in Q2 and then offloading more than 96% of its shares in Q3. While Berkshire did not make any changes to its Apple holdings, it offloaded another 117 million shares of Bank of America and now owns roughly 680 million shares or nearly 9% of the bank.
UPDATE—This article has been updated with Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance underwriting gains and year-end cash holdings.
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