Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile hits record high under new CEO
What's the story
Berkshire Hathaway, the multinational conglomerate led by Greg Abel, has reported a record high in its cash reserves. The company's cash pile reached an all-time high of $397 billion during Abel's first quarter as CEO. This comes after a slight decline late last year and is largely due to the company selling off a net $8.1 billion of equity holdings in the period.
Buyback strategy
Abel restarts stock buybacks
As the new CEO, Abel has also restarted stock buybacks and paid shareholders for the first time in over a year. The company repurchased $234.2 million of its own shares during this period. This move comes after Buffett and Abel determined that their company's shares were undervalued, prompting them to restart buybacks.
Financial performance
Operating earnings surge nearly 18% to $11.35 billion
Berkshire Hathaway reported a nearly 18% increase in operating earnings to $11.35 billion for the first quarter. The company's insurance businesses also saw underwriting profits jump by about 29% to $1.7 billion, recovering from previous losses associated with the Los Angeles wildfires. However, despite these gains, Berkshire's stock has fallen 6% this year amid broader market trends and economic uncertainty affecting some consumer-oriented businesses within its portfolio.