In this articleBRK.BBRK.AFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTWarren Buffett poses with Martin, the Geico gecko, ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder’s Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3rd, 2024.David A. Grogan | CNBCBerkshire Hathaway shares rose Monday after Warren Buffett’s conglomerate reported a surge in operating earnings as well as a record cash hoard.The company’s Class A shares were higher by 0.3% in morning trading. Meanwhile, Class B shares last gained about 0.4%.Those moves come after Berkshire posted first-quarter operating profit of $11.22 billion, up 39% from the year-ago period, mainly driven by an increase in insurance underwriting earnings. Operating profit measures earnings encompassing all of Berkshire’s businesses. [embedded content]Berkshire Hathaway Class BThe strength in the insurance businesses, particularly its crown jewel Geico, comes as the sector as a whole benefits from stronger demand and increased pricing power. Insurance underwriting earnings rose to $2.598 billion, a 185% increase from $911 million in the year-earlier quarter. Geico earnings swelled 174% to $1.928 billion from $703 million a year prior.Berkshire’s cash hoard swelled to a record, partly due to the holding company’s inability in recent years to find a suitable acquisition target. Cash soared to a record $188.99 billion in the first quarter, up from $167.6 billion in the fourth quarter.”We had much-improved earnings in insurance underwriting. And then our investment income was almost certain to increase,” Buffett said Saturday at the conglomerate’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. “And I said that in the annual report because yields are so much higher than they were last year. And we have a lot of fixed, short-term investments that are very responsive to the changes in interest rates.”Berkshire Hathaway shares have already outperformed this year, with each share class having advanced more than 10%. The S&P 500 is up by more than 7% this year.Class A shares marked an all-time closing high this year, reaching $634,440 in March; they closed at $603,000 on Friday. Class B shares were recently priced Monday at about $402.60 a share, or about 4% below their record close of $420.52, also set in March.But Wall Street analysts continue to be positive on the company’s outlook. UBS analyst Brian Meredith has a buy rating on Berkshire, citing the earnings beat and noting that Geico is on pace to catch up to competitors Progressive and others on data analytics by 2025. His $734,820 price target, raised from $722,234, is nearly 22% above where the shares closed Friday.Elsewhere, Edward Jones’ analyst James Shanahan has a hold rating on Berkshire, saying the current stock price is already fairly priced. However, he said he continues to “expect solid earnings from BRK’s diverse group of operating companies.”Correction: UBS analyst Brian Meredith’s price target is nearly 22% above where the shares closed Friday. An earlier version misstated the percentage. Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PROMost of Warren Buffett’s stock portfolio is tied up in just 5 stocks. Here’s what they are Bank of America says this shoe stock is an inflation winner and you should buy it before earnings These are Morgan Stanley’s top picks into quarterly earningsTesla price cuts could backfire, fund manager says, warning of a ‘huge demand problem’ on the horizonGundlach sees one rate cut this year as Fed keeps up inflation fight …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnIn this articleBRK.BBRK.AFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTWarren Buffett poses with Martin, the Geico gecko, ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder’s Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3rd, 2024.David A. Grogan | CNBCBerkshire Hathaway shares rose Monday after Warren Buffett’s conglomerate reported a surge in operating earnings as well as a record cash hoard.The company’s Class A shares were higher by 0.3% in morning trading. Meanwhile, Class B shares last gained about 0.4%.Those moves come after Berkshire posted first-quarter operating profit of $11.22 billion, up 39% from the year-ago period, mainly driven by an increase in insurance underwriting earnings. Operating profit measures earnings encompassing all of Berkshire’s businesses. [embedded content]Berkshire Hathaway Class BThe strength in the insurance businesses, particularly its crown jewel Geico, comes as the sector as a whole benefits from stronger demand and increased pricing power. Insurance underwriting earnings rose to $2.598 billion, a 185% increase from $911 million in the year-earlier quarter. Geico earnings swelled 174% to $1.928 billion from $703 million a year prior.Berkshire’s cash hoard swelled to a record, partly due to the holding company’s inability in recent years to find a suitable acquisition target. Cash soared to a record $188.99 billion in the first quarter, up from $167.6 billion in the fourth quarter.”We had much-improved earnings in insurance underwriting. And then our investment income was almost certain to increase,” Buffett said Saturday at the conglomerate’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. “And I said that in the annual report because yields are so much higher than they were last year. And we have a lot of fixed, short-term investments that are very responsive to the changes in interest rates.”Berkshire Hathaway shares have already outperformed this year, with each share class having advanced more than 10%. The S&P 500 is up by more than 7% this year.Class A shares marked an all-time closing high this year, reaching $634,440 in March; they closed at $603,000 on Friday. Class B shares were recently priced Monday at about $402.60 a share, or about 4% below their record close of $420.52, also set in March.But Wall Street analysts continue to be positive on the company’s outlook. UBS analyst Brian Meredith has a buy rating on Berkshire, citing the earnings beat and noting that Geico is on pace to catch up to competitors Progressive and others on data analytics by 2025. His $734,820 price target, raised from $722,234, is nearly 22% above where the shares closed Friday.Elsewhere, Edward Jones’ analyst James Shanahan has a hold rating on Berkshire, saying the current stock price is already fairly priced. However, he said he continues to “expect solid earnings from BRK’s diverse group of operating companies.”Correction: UBS analyst Brian Meredith’s price target is nearly 22% above where the shares closed Friday. An earlier version misstated the percentage. Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PROMost of Warren Buffett’s stock portfolio is tied up in just 5 stocks. Here’s what they are Bank of America says this shoe stock is an inflation winner and you should buy it before earnings These are Morgan Stanley’s top picks into quarterly earningsTesla price cuts could backfire, fund manager says, warning of a ‘huge demand problem’ on the horizonGundlach sees one rate cut this year as Fed keeps up inflation fight …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
