Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A / BRK.B), the holding company of famed investor Warren Buffett, has reported that its cash holdings at the end of 2022 stood at nearly $130 billion U.S.
In issuing financial results for the fourth and final quarter of last year, Berkshire said that its cash pile grew to $128.65 billion U.S., which was up 18% from $109 billion U.S. in the previous third quarter.
In his annual shareholder letter, Buffett said that Berkshire will continue to hold a “boatload of cash and U.S. Treasury bills” along with its myriad businesses.
News of the cash holdings came as the company announced that its operating profit fell 8% to $6.7 billion U.S. during Q4.
Inflationary pressures and market volatility weighed on Berkshire’s businesses, which include the Dairy Queen restaurant chain, Geico insurance, the Fruit of the Loom clothing company, and numerous stock holdings.
Earnings from Berkshire Hathaway’s railroad, utilities and energy businesses came in at $2.2 billion U.S. in Q4, which was slightly down from a year ago. The insurance-underwriting business saw its earnings decline to $244 million U.S., down from $372 million U.S. a year earlier.
Berkshire also announced that it spent $2.86 billion U.S. buying back its own stock in the fourth quarter, which was lower than a year earlier when share repurchases totaled more than $6 billion U.S.
For all of 2022, Berkshire Hathaway bought back nearly $8 billion U.S. of its common stock.
For the full year, the company’s earnings fell 125% to a loss of -$22.82 billion U.S., down from a profit of $89.80 billion U.S. in 2021. The loss was largely due to tumultuous stock markets, with the company reporting a -$53.60 billion U.S. loss from its investments.
Berkshire Hathaway manages a stock portfolio valued at $327.96 billion U.S. The company is the largest shareholder in eight S&P 500 listed stocks, including Occidental Petroleum (OXY), American Express (AXP) and Coca-Cola (KO).
Berkshire Hathaway’s widely held Class B stock has declined 5% over the past year to trade at $304.02 U.S. per share. The company does not pay a dividend.
