Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported a significant decline in operating earnings for the first quarter of 2025. The company’s operating earnings fell 14% to $9.64 billion, compared to $11.22 billion in the same period in 2024. Much of the drop was attributed to geopolitical uncertainties, particularly tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
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The company’s insurance-underwriting profit decreased by 48.6% to $1.34 billion from $2.60 billion in the previous year.
https://x.com/ETNOWlive/status/1919376825433637100
This significant drop was largely due to the Southern California wildfires, which led to a $1.1 billion loss in the first quarter.
Cash reserves reach new heights
https://x.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1919401336795263100
Berkshire Hathaway’s performance was also negatively impacted by foreign exchange losses amounting to approximately $713 million due to the dollar’s depreciation. Last year, the company had benefitted from a $597 million forex gain. Despite these financial challenges, Berkshire’s cash hoard surged to a record $347 billion by the end of the first quarter, up from $334 billion at the end of 2024.
https://x.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1919103096753430720
Interestingly, Berkshire was a net seller of stocks for the tenth consecutive quarter, signaling a cautious approach in deploying its considerable cash reserves amid market volatility. The company’s total earnings plunged nearly 64% year over year due to declines in its publicly traded investments. However, Berkshire advises investors to look past short-term changes, stating that “the amount of investment gains (losses) in any given quarter is usually meaningless and delivers figures for net earnings per share that can be extremely misleading to investors who have little or no knowledge of accounting rules.”
Despite the quarterly setbacks, Berkshire Hathaway has enjoyed a robust year-to-date performance, with Class A shares up nearly 19% in 2025, in stark contrast to the broader market, which is down 3.3% amid ongoing tariff-related pressures on various sectors.
