5 Highlights of Warren Buffett’s Letter to Shareholders and Berkshire’s 2023 Annual Report

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Dr. David Kass
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5 Highlights of Warren Buffett’s Letter to Shareholders and Berkshire’s 2023 Annual Report

1 . Berkshire’s operating earnings rose 28% in Q4 and cash rose to $167.6 billion from $157.2 billion at end of Q3. Profit increases in insurance underwriting and investment income handily offset declines at BNSF (railroad) and BHE (energy).

2.Berkshire bought back $2.2 b of stock in Q4 up from $1.1 b in Q3. Total repurchases in 2023 were $9.2 b vs. $7.9 b in 2022 and $27.1 b in 2021. It also purchased about $600 m of its shares in Q1 2024 through February 12.

3. Warren Buffett was very pleased with performance in Berkshire’s insurance businesses but disappointed with that of BNSF and BHE.

4. Berkshire’s Class A closing price of $628,930 equals 1.6 times its book value of about $389,000, slightly above its historic average of 1.4 to 1.5.

5. For the second year in a row, Warren Buffett did not reveal Berkshire’s largest equity holdings (although he discussed a few of them, with emphasis on Occidental Petroleum and 5 large Japanese trading companies).

Article by Dr. David Kass

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David I Kass Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Finance Ph.D., Harvard University Robert H. Smith School of Business 4412 Van Munching Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-1815 Phone: 301-405-9683 Email: dkass@rhsmith.umd.edu (link sends e-mail) Dr. David Kass has published articles in corporate finance, industrial organization, and health economics. He currently teaches Advanced Financial Management and Business Finance, and is the Faculty Champion for the Accelerated Finance Fellows. Prior to joining the faculty of the Smith School in 2004, he held senior positions with the Federal Government (Federal Trade Commission, General Accounting Office, Department of Defense, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis). Dr. Kass has recently appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNBC, PBS Nightly Business Report, Maryland Public Television, Business News Network TV (Canada), Fox TV, American Public Media's Marketplace Radio, and WYPR Radio (Baltimore), and has been quoted on numerous occasions by Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal, where he has primarily discussed Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. He has also launched a Smith School “Warren Buffett” blog. Dr. Kass has accompanied MBA students on trips to Omaha for private meetings with Warren Buffett, and Finance Fellows to Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings. He is an officer of the Harvard Business School Club of Washington, DC, and is a member of the investment and budget committees of a local nonprofit organization. Dr. Kass received a Smith School “Top 15% Teaching Award” for the 2009-2010 academic year.