Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A / BRK.B) reported a large decline in its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2025 due in large part to weakness in its insurance business.
The holding company announced its earnings from operations totaled $10.20 billion U.S. in Q4, down 30% from $14.56 billion U.S. a year earlier.
Management blamed the earnings decline on a sharp drop in insurance underwriting profits, which declined 54% to $1.56 billion U.S. from $3.41 billion U.S. a year ago.
Insurance investment income fell nearly 25% from to $3.10 billion U.S. from $4.09 billion U.S. in the final months of last year.
The latest print covered the final quarter under Warren Buffett’s 60-year tenure as chief executive officer (CEO). Buffett remains chairman of the board.
Greg Abel took the helm of Berkshire Hathaway at the start of this year and vowed in his first letter to shareholders to continue the culture Buffett built of financial strength and capital discipline.
For all of 2025, Berkshire’s operating earnings totaled $44.49 billion U.S., down from $47.44 billion U.S. in 2024.
Profits from insurance underwriting came in at $7.26 billion U.S., down from $9 billion U.S. in 2024.
Insurance investment income for the year eased to $12.5 billion U.S. from $13.6 billion U.S. a year earlier.
Overall earnings, which include gains or losses from the company’s $318.53 billion U.S. stock portfolio, fell slightly in the fourth quarter to $19.2 billion U.S. from $19.7 billion U.S. a year ago.
However, those numbers were impacted by a $4.50 billion U.S. impairment from Berkshire’s investments in Kraft Heinz (KHC) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY).
Berkshire’s total investment gains came in at $13.50 billion U.S. during Q4 2025. As is always the case, Berkshire emphasized that investors should pay little attention to investment performance over short periods of time.
Buffett refrained from buying back any of Berkshire Hathaway’s shares during the final quarter of 2025. The company had $373.3 billion U.S. of cash on hand at quarter’s end.
Berkshire’s more affordable Class B stock has declined 1% over the last 12 months to trade at $504.95 U.S. per share.
However, since Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, the stock has seen compounded annual gains of 19.7%, nearly double the S&P 500 index's increase in that time.
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