Berkshire Hathaway shareholders gathered Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska for the first annual meeting without legendary founder Warren Buffett on the stage.
In May 2025, Buffett announced he would step down at the end of the year and that his successor, 63-year-old Greg Abel, would become CEO. The move surprised many investors, as it was widely assumed that Abel would not take over until after Buffett’s death. Abel officially became the CEO in January 2026. Attendance at the meeting is expected to be down somewhat this year.
The conglomerate that Buffett built released its earnings report Saturday as thousands of shareholders streamed into the CHI Health Center on Saturday. The company’s first-quarter profit more than doubled as the value of its investments grew and most of its businesses improved. Berkshire said it earned $10.1 billion, or $7,027 per Class A share. That’s up significantly from last year’s $4.6 billion, or $3,200 per A share.
The paper value of Berkshire’s investments always has a major impact on its bottom line even though it hasn’t sold most of its stocks, but it did record a $5.8 billion gain on the stocks it did sell during the quarter. The value of the portfolio did slip to just over $288 billion.
Berkshire’s massive cash pile continues to grow, and it hit $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter.
Buffett has long encouraged investors to pay more attention to the company’s operating earnings that exclude investments to get a better idea of how its companies are performing. The operating earnings grew to $11.3 billion, or $7,889.44 per Class A share, from last year’s $9.6 billion, or $6,703.41 per Class A share. The four analysts surveyed by FactSet Research predicted earnings of $7,611.35 per A share.
Berkshire said its profits got a $249 million boost from its foreign currency holdings because of the exchange rate. A year ago, Berkshire recorded a $713 million loss on foreign currencies.
Most of Berkshire’s varied businesses reported better operating earnings this year. The insurance unit that includes Geico and a number of other companies reported an underwriting profit of $1.7 billion, up from $1.34 billion last year. Profits also grew somewhat at BNSF railroad and Berkshire’s utility and manufacturing companies.