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FRI, MAR 21, 2025
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Another string of record highs for Berkshire shares |
Berkshire Hathaway's Class B shares closed at five consecutive record highs through Thursday, as shares of Warren Buffett's company widen their lead over the benchmark S&P 500 index so far this year.
Thursday's $528.73 is the new record high close. The shares set a new intraday high of $530.61 during the session. A loss of 1.3% in today's trading cut the week's gains to 1.4%, but the B shares are still up more than 15% year-to-date. |
The A shares also lost some ground today but are up almost 15% on the year after three record high closes, including Thursday's finish at $792,880. The intraday high was $795,671. |
In contrast to Berkshire, the S&P has dropped as the enthusiasm over tech stocks waned over the past month. It's down 3.6% so far this year. |
Insurance is a big part of Berkshire's portfolio of wholly owned companies and that sector has been strong this year with the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF up 5% YTD. Berkshire's buildup of its cash to $334 billion as of December 31 is also looking good to investors.
Buffett is getting some credit for "predicting" the recent stock market correction, although it is more likely he didn't see anything worthwhile to buy at an attractive price over a period of time as opposed to him acting, (or not acting) based on a specific forecast in his mind.
(The big sales of Apple and Bank of America stock remain a mystery to me.)
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Berkshire adds to Japan stakes, sending the shares higher |
Berkshire's stake in four of the companies now tops 9%, approaching the 10% limit Buffett promised to observe in 2020 when he revealed the initial purchases. |
Stock price gain is calculated using June 1, 2020 to illustrate the increases since around the time Berkshire began buying the shares. When Buffett first revealed the holdings in November 2020, he said they had been purchased over a roughly 12-month period. |
In his annual letter to shareholders released late last month, however, Buffett wrote, "As we approached this limit the five companies agreed to moderately relax the ceiling." As a result, he added, "Over time, you will likely see Berkshire’s ownership of all five increase somewhat," an indication at least some of the stakes will be heading above 10% in the future. |
Berkshire posts shareholders guide to May annual meeting |
Portion of the cover of Berkshire Hathaway's 2025 Shareholders Guide to the company's annual meeting |
It includes sections on when and where shareholders can get discounts from various Berkshire subsidiaries, parking locations, hotels, and, of course, there is a list of Dairy Queen locations. |
BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET Some links may require a subscription |
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARCHIVE |
'It’s not a business that requires extraordinary intellect' (2004) |
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BERKSHIRE'S TOP U.S. STOCK HOLDINGS - Mar. 21, 2025 |
Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong, by market value, based on today's closing prices.
Holdings are as of December 31, 2024 as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing on February 14, 2025, except for:
The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker. |
Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.) If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here. Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here on Berkshire's website.
-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch |
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