Berkshire Hathaway releases Q4 earnings. Operating earnings down 30%

> 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 totaled $10.2 billion in Q4. That’s down more than 29% from $14.56 billion in the year-earlier period**. > **Insurance underwriting profits dropped 54% to $1.56 billion from $3.41 billion a year prior. Insurance investment income slid nearly 25% from to $3.1 billion from $4.088 billion.** For the full-year 2025, operating earnings totaled $44.49 billion. That’s down from $47.44 billion in the year prior. Profits from insurance underwriting came in at $7.26 billion, down from $9 billion in 2024. Insurance investment income for the year eased to $12.5 billion from $13.6 billion a year prior. > Overall earnings, which include gains or losses from the conglomerate’s stock market investments, fell slightly in the fourth quarter to $19.2 billion from $19.7 billion a year prior. However, those numbers were impacted by a $4.5 billion impairment from Berkshire’s investments in Kraft Heinz and Occidental Petroleum. Investment gains came in at $13.5 billion. > Full year overall earnings, meanwhile, fell to $66.97 billion from $89 billion a year prior. **To be sure, Berkshire always tells investors to pay little attention to its investments’ performance over short time frames.** > **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 $373.3 billion from a record of $381.6 billion in the third quarter. Rough earnings it seems like, due to write-downs and lower insurance income. Also no buybacks. I wonder how the market will react on Monday? read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/28/berkshire-hathaway-brka-q4-2025-earnings.html