Famed investor Warren Buffett will host the annual meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate and investors will be interested in his views of the economy.
The price of BRK shares tumbled with the trade war in April but bounced back to the recent highs near 800,000.
Warren Buffett had a strong year in 2024 as he sold two of his favorite stocks, built his cash pile to more than $300 billion, and led Berkshire Hathaway to a $1 trillion market value for the first time ever.
The 94-year-old investor had to say goodbye to his trusted partner, gave $6 billion to good causes, and provided further clarity on his plans to give away his fortune.
One of the key themes on Buffett has been the huge cash pile as the value investor sees little opportunity to load up on his stocks. Investors will be looking for clarity on the recent tariff trade wars and to see if the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ made any purchases.
Berkshire Hathaway currently has a market capitalization of around $1 trillion, making it the seventh most valuable publicly-traded company in the US, ahead of Tesla. If there is any concern this year it will surround the company’s insurance bets.
Early estimates on recent fires in Los Angeles suggest that damages may total $1.3 billion. Investors are usually interested in Buffett’s views on Apple stock. In 2016, Berkshire Hathaway invested in a technology stock for the first time but Buffett’s late partner Charlie Munger, said it wasn’t a tech company. He said that Apple was actually a great consumer company, similar to their successful investments in Coca-Cola.
By 2018, Berkshire had built an Apple stake of more than 1 billion shares. However, from 2024, the company started to reduce its holdings. The gains from those sales are now held in cash and Treasury securities and total around $318 billion.
As thousands descend on Omaha for the annual meeting, they will be keen to hear about tariffs and the path of the US economy.
