Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A-0.82%) is gearing up to report its first-quarter earnings Friday. And as usual, Wall Street will be paying close attention to what Warren Buffett says about the tumult in today’s markets and economy, as well as what the Oracle of Omaha’s crystal ball tells him about the future.
The company’s stock has been on a tear, up 17% so far this year and outperforming the S&P 500. But with recession fears causing a possible slowdown in investment and with a growing focus on Berkshire’s line of succession, this quarter’s numbers could tell investors more than usual.
Analysts are projecting adjusted first-quarter earnings per share of $4.72, according to TipRanks — a slight drop from the $5.20 posted in the first quarter of last year. Still, those expectations may very well be conservative: Berkshire has a habit of beating estimates.
Of course, the holding company is heavily influenced by swings in its massive stock portfolio — where Apple (AAPL-0.39%) and Bank of America (BAC-1.24%) are still key drivers, meaning soft numbers could bring Berkshire back down to Earth.
Berkshire’s portfolio holdings also include shares of Amazon (AMZN-2.87%), Coca-Cola (KO-0.01%), Kraft Heinz (KHC+0.36%), Citigroup (C-1.68%), Visa (V-0.28%), American Express (AXP-1.35%), and Occidental Petroleum (OXY-2.95%).
Beyond the investment portfolio, Berkshire’s core operating businesses — which include Geico, BNSF Railway, and MidAmerican Energy — are expected to deliver solid results. (Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom are also under Berkshire’s umbrella.) Insurance, in particular, has the potential be a bright spot if underwriting profits continue to recover after large catastrophe losses in recent years.
Meanwhile, Berkshire is sitting on a record-breaking cash pile north of $300 billion. That’s partly a product of discipline: Buffett has steered clear of overpriced deals in a frothy market. But it also raises the pressure. Investors want to know if Berkshire sees any buying opportunities on the horizon — especially now that valuations in some sectors are coming back to earth.
We already know a little bit about where Berkshire is investing: SEC filings show Buffett invested $54 million into Sirius XM (SIRI-2.00%) in February and bought Verisign (VRSN+0.01%) and Occidental Petroleum shares for close to a combined $40 million. Berkshire also purchased five add-ons to the Japanese trading houses for an estimated $2.7 billion. Berkshire also sold just under $148 million worth of DaVita (DVA-0.90%) to maintain ownership below 45%.
Because of market weakness, some analysts expect that Buffett will add to Berkshire’s already massive stack of Treasury bills.
But there’s a subplot here: succession.
Buffett is 94, and while he shows no sign of slowing down, vice chairman Greg Abel has been named as his eventual successor. Abel has been running the non-insurance businesses and is expected to play a prominent role at the annual shareholder meeting on Saturday in Omaha — which could be the most-watched company meeting in years.
With investors increasingly focused on what Berkshire looks like after Buffett, the company’s earnings report — and what’s said during Saturday’s shareholder session — could offer clues about how the company will be managed going forward and what kind of moves are happening behind the scenes. How exactly does a company replace someone who is believed to be as close to a god as the industry has?
Abel’s increased visibility will be both a reassurance and a test: Can Berkshire maintain its identity — and its top-tier reputation — in a post-Buffett world?
Add in the broader market’s volatility and questions about where Berkshire might deploy its record cash reserves, and this quarter’s earnings could carry more weight than usual. The bottom line: Berkshire has been a market stalwart in 2025, but Friday’s report will need to back that up with solid fundamentals — and maybe a few hints about what comes next.
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