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Berkshire Hathaway earnings 2024 Q2

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Warren Buffett walks the floor and meets with Berkshire Hathaway shareholders ahead of their annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3rd, 2024. 

David A. Grogan

Berkshire Hathaway‘s cash pile swelled to a record $276.9 billion last quarter as Warren Buffett sold big chunks in stock holdings including Apple.

The Omaha-based conglomerate’s cash hoard jumped significantly higher from the previous record of $189 billion, set in the first quarter of 2024. The increase came after the Oracle of Omaha sold nearly half of his stake in Tim Cook-led tech giant in the second quarter.

Berkshire has been a seller of stocks for seven quarters straight, but that selling accelerated in the last period with Buffett shedding more than $75 billion in equities in the second quarter. That brings the total of stocks sold in the first half of 2024 to more than $90 billion. The selling by Buffett has continued in the third quarter in some areas with Berkshire trimming its second biggest stake, Bank of America, for 12 consecutive days, filing this week showed.

For the second quarter, Berkshire’s operating earnings, which encompass profits from the conglomerate’s fully-owned businesses, enjoyed a jump thanks to the strength in auto insurer Geico. Operating earnings totaled $11.6 billion in the second quarter, up about 15% from $10 billion a year prior.

Buffett, who turns 94 at the end of the month, confessed at Berkshire’s annual meeting in May that he is willing to deploy capital, but high prices give him pause.

“We’d love to spend it, but we won’t spend it unless we think [a business is] doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money,” the investment icon said at the time. “It isn’t like I’ve got a hunger strike or something like that going on. It’s just that … things aren’t attractive.”

The S&P 500 has surged the last two years to record levels as investors bet the Federal Reserve would lower inflation with higher interest rates, while avoiding an economic recession. So far, that has played out with the S&P 500 up 12% in 2024. However, concerns about a slowing economy have been awakened recently by some weak data, including Friday’s disappointing July jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 600 points on Friday. Investors have also recently grown concerned about the valuations in the technology sector, which has led the bull market because of optimism surrounding artificial intelligence innovation.

Geico boosts earnings

Geico, the company Buffett once called his “favorite child,” registered nearly $1.8 billion in underwriting earnings before taxes in the second quarter, more than tripling the level of $514 million from a year ago.

Profit from BNSF Railway came in at $1.6 billion, in line with last year’s number. Berkshire Hathaway Energy utility business saw earnings fall to $326 million, nearly half of the $624 million from the same quarter a year ago. BHE continues to face pressure for possible wildfire liability.

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Berkshire Hathaway ‘A’ shares, year-to-date

Berkshire’s net earnings, which includes short-term investment gains or losses, declined to $30.3 billion in the second quarter from $35.9 billion in the same period a year ago. Buffett cautions investors to not pay attention to quarterly fluctuations in unrealized gains on investments, which can be “extremely misleading.”

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These are 3 big things we’re watching in the stock market this week

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A security guard works outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) before the Federal Reserve announcement in New York City, U.S., September 18, 2024. 

Andrew Kelly | Reuters

The stock market bounce last week showed once again just how dependent Wall Street has become on the whims of the White House.

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These U.S. consumer stocks face higher China risks

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Apple iPhone assembly in India won’t cushion China tariffs: Moffett

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Street's biggest Apple bear says a production move to India is unrealistic

Leading analyst Craig Moffett suggests any plans to move U.S. iPhone assembly to India is unrealistic.

Moffett, ranked as a top analyst multiple times by Institutional Investor, sent a memo to clients on Friday after the Financial Times reported Apple was aiming to shift production toward India from China by the end of next year.

He’s questioning how a move could bring down costs tied to tariffs because the iPhone components would still be made in China.

“You have a tremendous menu of problems created by tariffs, and moving to India doesn’t solve all the problems. Now granted, it helps to some degree,” the MoffettNathanson partner and senior managing director told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Friday. “I would question how that’s going to work.”

Moffett contends it’s not so easy to diversify to India — telling clients Apple’s supply chain would still be anchored in China and would likely face resistance.

“The bottom line is a global trade war is a two-front battle, impacting costs and sales. Moving assembly to India might (and we emphasize might) help with the former. The latter may ultimately be the bigger issue,” he wrote to clients.

Moffett cut his Apple price target on Monday to $141 from $184 a share. It implies a 33% drop from Friday’s close. The price target is also the Street low, according to FactSet.

“I don’t think of myself as the biggest Apple bear,” he said. “I think quite highly of Apple. My concern about Apple has been the valuation more than the company.”

Moffett has had a “sell” rating on Apple since Jan. 7. Since then, the company’s shares are down about 14%.

“None of this is because Apple is a bad company. They still have a great balance sheet [and] a great consumer franchise,” he said. “It’s just the reality of there are no good answers when you are a product company, and your products are going to be significantly tariffed, and you’re heading into a market that is likely to have at least some deceleration in consumer demand because of the macro economy.”

Moffett notes Apple also isn’t getting help from its carriers to cushion the blow of tariffs.

“You also have the demand destruction that’s created by potentially higher prices. Remember, you had AT&T, Verizon and T. Mobile all this week come out and say we’re not going to underwrite the additional cost of tariff [on] handsets,” he added. “The consumer is going to have to pay for that. So, you’re going to have some demand destruction that’s going to show up in even longer holding periods and slower upgrade rates — all of which probably trims estimates next year’s consensus.”

According to Moffett, the backlash against Apple in China over U.S. tariffs will also hurt iPhone sales.

“It’s a very real problem,” Moffett said. “Volumes are really going to the Huaweis and the Vivos and the local competitors in China rather than to Apple.”

Apple stock is coming off a winning week — up more than 6%. It comes ahead of the iPhone maker’s quarterly earnings report due next Thursday after the market close.

To get more personalized investment strategies, join us for our next “Fast Money” Live event on Thursday, June 5, at the Nasdaq in Times Square.

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