The company’s financial documents also show that Berkshire has dramatically increased its investment in oil giant Chevron to nearly $ 26 billion at the end of the first quarter, from just $ 4.5 billion at the end of 2021. This makes Chevron Berkshire the fourth largest contributor , behind Apple, Bank of America and American Express. Mr Buffett has recently made big stakes in the energy sector. Last month, the company also bought $ 7 billion in shares in Occidental Petroleum.
Sales and profits in Berkshire’s operating business continued to grow during the quarter, counteracting the overall contraction of the US economy in the first quarter. However, economists said that the decline in gross domestic product is a major force in the US economy, and Berkshire’s operating results seem to support this. Berkshire’s manufacturing and trading profits rose 16 percent from a year earlier. Profits from Burlington Northern, one of the largest freight networks in the United States, rose 9 percent, again reflecting continued business activity.
Berkshire’s mixed results for the first quarter came when tens of thousands of Mr. Buffett’s loyal investors flocked to Omaha, his hometown, for the company’s annual meeting. The Buffet Fest is a one-day popular affair, often called the Woodstock for Capitalists, in which Mr Buffett spends hours answering questions in front of a 17,000-seat city center crowd. While there were some vacancies, there were several corporate landmarks, including Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, and Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase’s chief executive, as well as Bill Ackman, head of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, and the actor. Bill Murray.
Updated
April 29, 2022, 6:32 pm ET
The floor of the giant conference room is full of booths highlighting many Berkshire companies and offering discounts on things like See’s candy boxes, also owned by Berkshire. Mr Buffett said on Saturday that See’s had brought 11 tonnes of candy to the shareholders’ meeting and was expected to sell out. Only shareholders can attend in person. For the last two years, the meeting has been virtual. Berkshire started streaming the match a few years ago and will do so again this year.
Mr Buffett, 91, is facing a slightly more controversial annual meeting than usual, despite the fact that Berkshire’s shares, which rose nearly 8 percent this year, outperformed the overall market, which fell 13 percent. “Historically, Berkshire shares have performed better during times of economic hardship as investors have made a ‘flight to quality,'” Katie Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research who monitors Berkshire, wrote in a note to clients last week. .
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