Buffett\`s Berkshire Hathaway rebounds with $11.7bn profit

American business Tycoon Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway returned to profitability in the 1st quarter of this year after reporting a nearly $50 billion loss during the first quarter of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB)_ a sprawling conglomerate that owns companies ranging from the Geico insurance giant and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad to well-known consumer brands like Dairy Queen_ Benjamin Moore paints and Duracell batteries_ posted a net profit of $11.7 billion and operating profit (the metric Buffett prefers to highlight) of $7 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Saturday that revenue for many of its manufacturing_ services and retailing businesses "experienced significant recoveries in revenues and earnings" over the past few months as the economy has reopened.

But despite this optimism_ Berkshire Hathaway also continued to plow money into buying back its own stock as opposed to using cash to do more acquisitions.


Berkshire Hathaway spent nearly $6.6 billion to repurchase the more expensive Class A shares as well as the more affordable Class B stock in the quarter.
Even after those stock purchases_ Berkshire's massive cash pile has grown. It now has about $145.4 billion in cash on its balance sheet_ up from $138.3 billion at the end of 2020.

One Berkshire A share (BRKA)_ which has never split its stock_ is now trading at $412_500. The B shares_ which do split in order to be more affordable for average investors_ closed at a price of just under $275 on Friday.

Berkshire's two classes of stock have both rebounded with the broader market this year. They are each up nearly 20% so far in 2021.

Still_ some investing experts wonder if Buffett has lost his magic touch. Berkshire_ despite making bets on top tech stocks like Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) during the past few years_ has lagged the broader market as of late.

Berkshire Hathaway stock is up about 90% in the past five years while the S&P 500 has more than doubled and the Nasdaq has soared nearly 200%.

Buffett_ along with Berkshire vice chairmen Charlie Munger_ Ajit Jain and Greg Abel_ will talk more about the stock market rebound and economy as well as a host of other issues later Saturday when the company hosts its annual shareholder meeting.

The meeting_ which will be held in Los Angeles instead of Berkshire's hometown of Omaha_ Nebraska_ will be a virtual event for the second straight year due to Covid-19 and will be broadcast live on Yahoo Finance starting around 12:30 ET.