Berkshire Hathaway shares set new high following record profit

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway shares rose to a record on Monday after the conglomerate run by Warren Buffett posted its highest-ever quarterly profit, driven by improvement in insurance operations.

The conglomerate's Class A shares closed up $28,735.49, or 4%, at $747,485.49, after earlier reaching $755,968.

Those levels surpassed even the $741,971 recorded by some stock price services last June 3, following a trading glitch.

Berkshire's more widely held Class B shares closed up $19.68, or 4.1%, at $498.42, The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate's market value rose to $1.08 trillion.

Multiple analysts raised their price targets and earnings forecasts. Buffett's own fortune increased to $155.5 billion, ranking sixth worldwide, according to Forbes magazine.

Berkshire on Saturday said fourth-quarter profit from its 189 operating businesses rose 71% to $14.53 billion, and excluding currency gains totaled $13.38 billion, exceeding analyst forecasts.

Full-year operating profit rose 27% to $47.44 billion, also a record.

That was also helped by more income from $334.2 billion of cash and equivalents, invested mainly in U.S. Treasury bills.

Cash doubled in 2024 as Berkshire reduced its stake in Apple, still its largest common stock holding. Net income, including gains and losses from stocks, totaled $89 billion.

In his annual shareholder letter, Buffett said Berkshire outpaced his expectations, and singled out Geico Chief Executive Todd Combs for improving the car insurer's underwriting while cutting costs.

Geico underwriting profit more than doubled in 2024 even as it shed more than 2,300 jobs, in addition to 7,700 in 2023.

UBS analyst Brian Meredith and KBW analyst Meyer Shields raised their 2025 outlooks for Berkshire, with Meredith saying Geico "appears to have firmly turned the corner."

Edward Jones analyst James Shanahan called the cash stake noteworthy in light of Buffett's comment that Berkshire paid $26.8 billion, or more than $3 million an hour, in federal taxes last year. Buffett cautioned Washington to spend it "wisely."

Berkshire's operations also include railroad, energy, industrial, retail and service businesses.

Buffett, 94, has led Berkshire since 1965.

He wrote that "at 94, it won't be long before Greg Abel replaces me as CEO and will be writing the annual letters." Abel, 62, is a Berkshire vice chairman.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Stephen Coates)