Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s first-quarter earnings fell, hurt by investment losses and weaker results in its insurance-underwriting business.
Warren Buffett’s company reported net income of $5.46 billion, or $3,702 a Class A share equivalent. That was down from $11.71 billion, or $7,638 a share, a year earlier. Operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, edged up to $7.04 billion from $7.02 billion last year.
Berkshire’s insurance-underwriting business reported a decrease in operating profits, while its railroad; utilities and energy; and manufacturing, service and retailing businesses posted growth.
Berkshire’s net income can be volatile from quarter to quarter because the company has large stock investments, and it is required to include unrealized investment gains or losses in the figure. Mr. Buffett, who is Berkshire’s chief executive and chairman, has said he thinks operating earnings are a better measure of how the company is performing.
Investors curious to hear what Berkshire will do next will get a chance to hear from Mr. Buffett himself later Saturday. The 91-year-old investor—alongside right-hand man Charlie Munger and Vice Chairmen Greg Abel and Ajit Jain—will speak at Berkshire’s first in-person annual shareholder meeting since 2019.
Based in Omaha, Neb., Berkshire runs a large insurance operation, as well as a railroad, utilities, manufacturers and retailers. Many of its holdings are household names, such as Fruit of the Loom, Geico, Dairy Queen and Benjamin Moore & Co.
Berkshire also has a massive equity portfolio, which was worth $331 billion at the end of 2021. The company uses billions of dollars of float, or upfront premiums that its insurance customers pay, to make investments for its own gain.
While most shareholder meetings pass by without much notice, Berkshire’s has been lovingly dubbed the “Woodstock for Capitalists” given its unusually high turnout, festival-like atmosphere and plethora of memorabilia celebrating Mr. Buffett and his investments. In the past, attendees have taken home souvenirs such as Fruit of the Loom boxers with images of Mr. Buffett printed on them and Oriental Trading rubber ducks created in the likeness of Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger.
The highlight of the weekend will be an hourslong question-and-answer session during which the executives will field inquiries from randomly selected audience members and CNBC reporter Becky Quick.
Mr. Buffett has said he won’t discuss what Berkshire is buying or selling, how Berkshire arrived at an investment decision, or politics.
“Any other subjects are fair game,” he wrote in a program for the event.
While the company made no major acquisitions in 2021, with Mr. Buffett citing a lack of attractive long-term investment opportunities, it has put more cash to work again this year.
In March, Berkshire said it had reached a deal to acquire insurer Alleghany Corp. for $11.6 billion. The deal is set to be Berkshire’s biggest in years. The company also unveiled it had built a 14.6% stake in Occidental Petroleum in March and disclosed an 11% stake in HP Inc. in April.
Shares of Occidental and HP soared following news of Berkshire’s investments.
Shareholders will pay close attention to Mr. Buffett’s views on the markets and the economy, given his decades of investing experience and the vast scale of Berkshire’s businesses.
They may also look to hear Mr. Buffett share his views on various Berkshire shareholder proposals. In April, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the nation’s largest pension fund, said it was planning to support a proposal that would remove Mr. Buffett as the chairman of Berkshire.
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