As he does each year in his letter to investors, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett explained what's driving the conglomerate's short-term and long-term results. He puts these performance figures in the context of the latest accounting rules, the current investing climate and "The American Tailwind" that he believes supports Berkshire's continued success.
Berkshire's earnings
Berkshire had a return of 11% in 2019 vs. 31.5% for the S&P 500. In 2018, though, Berkshire had a 2.8% return vs. -4.4% for the S&P. After taxes, the conglomerate earned $81.4 billion in 2019: $24 billion of operating earnings, $3.7 billion of realized capital gains and a $53.7 billion gain from an increase in the amount of net unrealized capital gains in its stocks (as per a new accounting rule). The conglomerate's $237 billion in public holdings at year-end included Apple ($73 billion), Coca-Cola ($23.5 billion), Delta Air Lines ($3.9 billion) and Amazon ($1.1 billion) — as well as a host of financial services companies. Check out the gallery above to glean some pearls of wisdom from the yearly letter. READ MORE: |
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Janet Levaux
Editor-in-Chief Janet Levaux has covered the financial markets since 1991, with a focus on financial advisors since 2005. After graduating from Yale and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where she studied global economics, Janet worked as a freelance financial and business writer in Japan, and then as a reporter and editor for Investor's Business Daily and the Bay Area News Group in California. She earned an MBA in 2007 and since then has helped lead key ThinkAdvisor projects like its Neal-Award winning reporting on Ken Fisher, Luminaries awards program and Women in Wealth newsletter.
