Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway posted record operating earnings
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway posted record operating earnings for the year, helped by solid performance across many of the conglomerate’s subsidiaries.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based firm reported $30.8 billion in operating earnings for 2022.
The company’s fourth-quarter operating earnings were $6.7 billion compared with $7.3 billion the prior year.
The company announced $2.6 billion worth of stock buybacks in the fourth quarter.
Those figures also showed that Berkshire was a net seller of stocks in that period, which became evident after the company’s 13F filing indicated it had abruptly slashed a position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing disclosed in the prior filing.
The company had $128.6 billion of cash on hand at the end of last year.
The company’s Class A stock gained 15% in the fourth quarter after remaining mostly static in the prior period.
The stock gained roughly 4.3% last year, compared to a 19% drop reported by the S&P 500 Index in the same period.
Peanut brittle a hit
Peanut brittle was the big takeaway from Berkshire Hathaway earnings day.
Toward the end of his annual letter to shareholders on Saturday, Warren Buffett noted that he and business partner Charlie Munger sold 11 tons of peanut brittle and chocolates to peckish investors at their annual general meeting last year.
Just in case the message was in danger of getting lost, the 11 tons was in italics.
“In our P.T. Barnum pitch, we promised you longevity,” Buffett said, noting that candy from his See’s kiosk must surely be the only reason for him reaching 92 years of age and Munger making it to 99.
The side hustle resulted in peak business of 10 sales a minute, he said, raking in more than $400,000 over two days.
Peanut brittle is also, according to Buffett, a “nourishing” tidbit.
With just a handful of ingredients — sugar, corn syrup, butter, roasted salted peanuts and baking soda — it certainly packs a heavy calorific punch.
According to the Nutrition Value database, a 1-ounce (28-gram) slab contains 130 calories.
