Warren Buffett’s company said its first-quarter profits soared along with the paper value of its investment portfolio — giving the thousands of shareholders who will fill an arena Saturday to listen to the billionaire and several other top executives at the conglomerate answer questions for hours some good news to start the day.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Chloe Lin, who traveled from Singapore to attend the meeting for the first time and learn from Buffett and his longtime investing partner Charlie Munger. Berkshire Hathaway said Saturday morning that it made $35.5 billion, or $24,377 per Class A share, in the first quarter. That’s more than 6 times last year’s $5.58 billion, or $3,784 per share.
Buffett says Berkshire’s operating earnings that exclude investments are a better measure of the company’s performance. By that measure, Berkshire’s operating earnings grew nearly 13% to $8.065 billion, up from $7.16 billion a year ago. At the end of this year’s first quarter, Berkshire held $130.616 billion cash, up from $128.585 billion at the end of last year. But Berkshire did spend $4.4 billion during the quarter to repurchase its own shares.
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Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »
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