Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s operating earnings surged 71% in the fourth quarter, as higher interest rates lifted the conglomerate’s investment income and its insurance business improved.
Operating earnings were $14.5 billion in the three months through December, Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate said Saturday in a statement. The increase was driven in part by a 48% jump in insurance investment income, to $4.1 billion, amid higher interest rates.
Operating profit rose 27% to $47.44 billion in 2024 from $37.35 billion a year earlier.
Fourth-quarter operating profit also set a record, rising 71% to $14.53 billion, or about $1,010 per Class A share, from $8.48 billion a year earlier, reflecting gains in its insurance operations and from foreign currency changes.
Quarterly net income totaled $19.69 billion, or $13,695 per average equivalent share, as the value of Berkshire’s holdings in Apple, American Express and other stocks increased. For the year, net income totaled $89 billion.
The rise in earnings also got a significant boost from a strong recovery in the firm’s insurance underwriting business, with operating earnings quadrupling over the period to $3.4 billion.
GEICO was the main contributor to Berkshire’s insurance results, with its pretax underwriting earnings more than doubling to $7.8 billion in 2024. The auto insurer successfully added new clients in the second half, reversing a years-long trend that previously weighed on its performance.
Berkshire said it expects pretax losses of approximately $1.3 billion from the wildfires that ravaged entire parts of Los Angeles last month.
Buffett’s cash hoard grew for the 10th quarter in a row, to a record $334.2 billion at the end of 2024, as the billionaire continued to refrain from major stock transactions in the fourth quarter. In the period, the firm was a net seller of $6.7 billion worth of shares.
The firm declined to buy back its own shares for the second quarter in a row, a sign that Buffett believes the stock trades above its intrinsic value.
