Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), the holding company of Warren Buffett, posted a $53 billion U.S.
loss on its investments during the second quarter.
The loss was due to market volatility between April and June. Stocks fell into a bear market
during the second quarter following a series of interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The benchmark S&P 500 index fell 16% during Q2, its biggest decline since the COVID-19
pandemic hit in March 2020. For the first half of this year, the S&P 500 dropped 21%, its biggest
pullback through six months since 1970.
The market downturn hurt Berkshire Hathaway’s massive investment portfolio that is worth more
than $350 billion U.S. and includes stocks such as Apple (AAPL), Coca-Cola (KO) and
American Express (AXP), to name only a few of its holdings.
However, Buffett said that shareholders and investors should not focus on the quarterly
fluctuations in Berkshire Hathaway’s equity investments.
“The amount of investment gains/losses in any given quarter is usually meaningless,” Buffett
said in a written statement accompanying the earnings results.
Buffett has been taking advantage of the market downturn this year, buying shares of oil giant
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and giving Berkshire Hathaway a 19% stake in the company worth
nearly $11 billion U.S.
Berkshire Hathaway also spent $1 billion U.S. in share buybacks during the second quarter,
bringing its six-month total to $4.2 billion U.S. The company also had a massive cash hoard of
$105 billion U.S. at the end of June.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B stock is down 3% this year at $292.07 U.S. per share,
outperforming all the major U.S. indices.
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