Warren Buffett sees no chance of 'eye-popping' results with record cash

By Sally Bakewell

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said its cash pile scaled a new record as the billionaire investor decried a lack of meaningful deals that would give the firm a shot at “eye-popping performance.”
 

The firm’s cash hoard jumped to a record at $167.6 billion in the fourth quarter as the conglomerate struggled to find deals at attractive valuations. The company also reported fourth-quarter operating earnings of $8.48 billion, versus $6.63 billion for the same period a year earlier, helped by an increase in insurance underwriting earnings and investment income amid higher interest rates and milder weather.

“There remain only a handful of companies in this country capable of truly moving the needle at Berkshire, and they have been endlessly picked over by us and by others,” Buffett, 93, said in his annual shareholder letter, which the company released alongside its results on Saturday. “Outside the US, there are essentially no candidates that are meaningful options for capital deployment at Berkshire. All in all, we have no possibility of eye-popping performance.”

Despite ramping up Berkshire’s acquisition machine in recent years, the company has still struggled to find many of the big-ticket deals that burnished Buffett’s reputation, leaving him with more cash than he and his investing deputies could quickly deploy. 

After hanging back during the pandemic, he’s since snapped up shares in Occidental Petroleum Corp. and struck an $11.6 billion deal to buy Alleghany Corp. The investor also boosted Berkshire’s stake in five of Japan’s trading houses last year after their profits surged — a move that fueled a rally in their stock. 

Buffett has also continued to lean on share repurchases amid the dearth of appealing alternatives, saying the measures benefit shareholders. The firm spent $2.2 billion on buybacks in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for the year to about $9.2 billion. 

‘Incredible Period’
 

Berkshire’s earnings are always closely watched as a proxy for US economic health because of the expansive nature of his businesses — ranging from railroad BNSF, Geico and Dairy Queen. That also makes the company particularly susceptible to higher interest rates, which can crimp demand, and Buffett warned in May last year that earnings at most of its operations would fall in 2023 as an “incredible period” for the US economy draws to an end.

The company said operating earnings from its railroad operations fell to $1.36 billion for the quarter, versus $1.47 billion for the same period a year earlier. Operating earnings from utilities and energy also fell to $632 million from $739 million. 

This is the first time Berkshire reported earnings since Charlie Munger, Berkshire’s vice chairman and Buffett’s long-time investing partner, died at 99 in late November. Buffett devoted much of the letter to praising Munger’s role in creating the sprawling firm. 

The company said operating earnings from insurance underwriting jumped to $848 million for the period from $160 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The company’s Geico unit posted full-year pretax underwriting earnings of $3.64 billion compared to a loss in 2022 after it raised premiums and received fewer claims. 

“Our insurance business performed exceptionally well last year, setting records in sales, float and underwriting profits,” Buffett said in the shareholder letter. “We have much room to grow.”

Including investment and derivatives, Berkshire posted $37.6 billion of net earnings for the quarter, more than the year prior, helped by higher interest rates. Berkshire often recommends that investors look past investment gains or losses, which are tied to accounting rules, saying they can be misleading.

“Berkshire now has – by far – the largest GAAP net worth recorded by any American business,” Buffett said in the annual letter. “Record operating income and a strong stock market led to a year-end figure of $561 billion. The total GAAP net worth for the other 499 S&P companies – a who’s who of American business – was $8.9 trillion in 2022.”