Berkshire Hathaway reported a big decline in its operating earnings for the fourth quarter, due in large part to weakness in the conglomerate’s insurance business.
Earnings from operations totalled $10.2bn in Q4. That’s down more than 29 per cent from $14.56bn in the year-earlier period.
This was the final quarter under Warren Buffett as CEO, who announced he was stepping down at the annual shareholders meeting last May. Greg Abel took the reins to start 2026 and vowed in Berkshire’s annual letter accompanying Saturday’s results to continue the culture Buffett built of financial strength and capital discipline. Buffett remains chairman.
Insurance underwriting profits dropped 54pc to $1.56bn from $3.41bn a year prior. Insurance investment income slid nearly 25pc from to $3.1bn from $4.088bn.
For the full-year 2025, operating earnings totalled $44.49bn. That’s down from $47.44bn in the year prior.
Profits from insurance underwriting came in at $7.26bn, down from $9bn in 2024. Insurance investment income for the year eased to $12.5bn from $13.6bn a year prior.
Overall earnings, which include gains or losses from the conglomerate’s stock market investments, fell slightly in the fourth quarter to $19.2bn from $19.7bn a year prior. However, those numbers were impacted by a $4.5bn impairment from Berkshire’s investments in Kraft Heinz and Occidental Petroleum. Investment gains came in at $13.5bn.
Full year overall earnings, meanwhile, fell to $66.97bn from $89bn a year prior. To be sure, Berkshire always tells investors to pay little attention to its investments’ performance over short time frames.
“The amount of investment gains (losses) in any given quarter is usually meaningless and delivers figures for net earnings per share that can be extremely misleading to investors who have little or no knowledge of accounting rules,” the company said in its earnings release.
Buffett again refrained from buying back Berkshire shares despite ending Q4 along the flatline. Despite the lack of buybacks, the conglomerate’s cash hoard did slip to $373.3bn from a record of $381.6bn in the third quarter.
Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares rose 10pc in 2025, lagging the S&P 500s 16.4 advance. Still, Buffett’s leadership has led to unparalleled wealth creation for shareholders.
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