Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B) reported on Saturday that fourth quarter operating revenues had skyrocketed by more than 70% year-on-year.
The conglomerate lists operating profit of $14.53 billion, up from $8.48 billion a year ago. Berkshire’s total operating profit was $47.444 billion, up 27% from $37.35 billion the previous year.
The fourth quarter results were driven by insurance underwriting, with its operating revenues skyrocketing over 300% to $3.41 billion.
“In 2024, Berkshire did better than I expected, but 53% of 189 operating businesses reported a decline in revenue,” Buffett wrote in an annual letter to shareholders. “We supported the large predictable profits in investment revenue as the Treasury bill improved and significantly increased the holdings of these highly liquid short-term securities.”
Berkshire has concluded a record year of $334.2 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments in US Treasury bills. Last quarter, Berkshire registered an operating profit of $10.1 billion, and its cash plant rose to more than $320 billion as it cut its shares in Apple (AAPL) and Bank of America (BAC).
In the fourth quarter, Berkshire bought in the second quarter and then ended its position at Ulta Beauty (Ulta) after offloading more than 96% of its shares in the third quarter. Berkshire made no changes to Apple Holdings, but offloaded 117 million shares of Bank of America and now owns around 680 million shares or nearly 9% of the bank.
Update – This article has been updated with Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Underwriting Profits and Year-end Cash Holdings.
