Berkshire Hathaway operating earnings fell nearly 30% in Warren Buffett’s final quarter as CEO

Berkshire Hathaway reported an enormous decline in its operating earnings for the fourth quarter, due in massive half to weak spot in the conglomerate’s insurance coverage enterprise.

Earnings from operations totaled $10.2 billion in This fall. That is down greater than 29% from $14.56 billion in the year-earlier interval.

This was the final quarter beneath Warren Buffett as CEO, who introduced he was stepping down on the annual shareholders assembly final Might. Greg Abel took the reins to start out 2026 and vowed in Berkshire’s annual letter accompanying Saturday’s outcomes to proceed the tradition Buffett constructed of economic energy and capital self-discipline. Buffett stays chairman.

Insurance coverage underwriting earnings dropped 54% to $1.56 billion from $3.41 billion a 12 months prior. Insurance coverage funding revenue slid nearly 25% from to $3.1 billion from $4.088 billion.

For the full-year 2025, operating earnings totaled $44.49 billion. That is down from $47.44 billion in the 12 months prior.

Income from insurance coverage underwriting got here in at $7.26 billion, down from $9 billion in 2024. Insurance coverage funding revenue for the 12 months eased to $12.5 billion from $13.6 billion a 12 months prior.

General earnings, which embrace beneficial properties or losses from the conglomerate’s inventory market investments, fell barely in the fourth quarter to $19.2 billion from $19.7 billion a 12 months prior. Nevertheless, these numbers have been impacted by a $4.5 billion impairment from Berkshire’s investments in Kraft Heinz and Occidental Petroleum. Funding beneficial properties got here in at $13.5 billion.

Full 12 months total earnings, in the meantime, fell to $66.97 billion from $89 billion a 12 months prior. To make certain, Berkshire at all times tells traders to pay little consideration to its investments’ efficiency over brief time frames.

“The quantity of funding beneficial properties (losses) in any given quarter is often meaningless and delivers figures for web earnings per share that may be extraordinarily deceptive to traders who’ve little or no information of accounting guidelines,” the corporate stated in its earnings launch.

Buffett once more avoided shopping for again Berkshire shares regardless of ending This fall alongside the flatline. Regardless of the dearth of buybacks, the conglomerate’s money hoard did slip to $373.3 billion from a document of $381.6 billion in the third quarter.

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares rose 10% in 2025, lagging the S&P 500’s 16.4 advance. Nonetheless, Buffett’s management has led to unparalleled wealth creation for shareholders.

Since 1965, Berkshire Hathaway has seen compounded annual beneficial properties of 19.7%. That is nearly double the S&P 500’s compounded will increase in that point. General beneficial properties for Berkshire exceed 6,000,000% over that interval, whereas the S&P 500 has gained simply 46,061%, together with dividends, Abel famous in his first annual letter to shareholders as CEO.