Berkshire News Briefs - 5/17/17

Berkshire’s Earnings Hit Speed Bump on Insurance Businesses

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. hit a speed bump in the first quarter as insurance units posted an underwriting loss, overshadowing gains at the company’s railroad and energy business. [...]

First-quarter operating profit slipped 4.8 percent to $3.56 billion, the company said Friday in a statement. [...]

Berkshire’s war chest totaled $96.5 billion at the end of the first quarter, a record. [...]

Book value, a measure of assets minus liabilities that’s closely tracked by investors, rose 3.5 percent in the first quarter to $178,073 per share. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway press release on 1Q17 Earnings

Berkshire Cuts 21st Century Fox Stake, Adjusts Airline Bets

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. spent the first quarter fine-tuning its investments in airlines and technology companies, and retreating from 21st Century Fox Inc.

In a filing Monday detailing its stock portfolio at the end of the quarter, Berkshire no longer listed Fox. Holdings in American Airlines Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. increased, while a stake in Delta Air Lines Inc. was reduced. Buffett previously disclosed that he boosted a bet on Apple Inc. in the first quarter as he pulled back from International Business Machines Corp. [...]

The new 13F filing is here. Berkshire Hathaway's updated stock holdings in an easy to read format from Dataroma is here.

5 Key Takeaways From Today's Berkshire Hathaway Meeting

So, what would prompt Berkshire to start putting its cash to work? Essentially, Buffett said that Berkshire wants to acquire businesses that will have a competitive advantage over the next five to 10 years, whose management teams are strong, and that are offered at a fair price. [...]

Buffett also said that if there's a persistent shortage of attractive investment opportunities, Berkshire may eventually choose to increase its buyback criteria of 120% of book value or less, but he is still optimistic about finding ways to deploy Berkshire's capital. [...]

Here's the best wit and wisdom from Warren Buffett at this year's Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting

Buffett and long-time business partner Charlie Munger spoke for hours at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting Saturday in Omaha.

The pair frequently elicited laughter from the crowd of 40,000 by answering questions from shareholders and journalists with their usual folksy sense of humor and wisdom. [...]

A Comparison of Berkshire Hathaway Class A and Class B Shares

[...] From these tables, institutions and mutual fund holders own only 27% of the A shares, but 64% of the B shares. That can be explained by insiders and 5% owners holding 41% of the A shares and less than 1% of the B shares. According to Berkshire’s Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders May 6, 2017, Warren Buffett beneficially owned 38.3% of the A shares as of March 8, 2017. The insiders primarily accumulated their shares in the 1960’s and 1970’s when Berkshire traded at less than $100 per share.

It should be noted, however, that these tables imply that individuals (other than insiders) hold about 31% of the A shares and 35% of the B shares. [...]

Clayton Homes unveils new tiny home series

Clayton, a Berkshire Hathaway company and a builder of manufactured, modular and site-built homes, introduced its new tiny homes collection Saturday at the Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. [...]

The homes are just 464 square feet and offer 270 degrees of window views. They have vaulted ceilings to give the homes a larger feel, and the master bedroom fits a queen-size bed and a full-height closet. [...]

Even in Texas, sometimes the billionaires lose

A bill that would carve out a loophole for Buffett’s chain of auto-dealerships in Texas — put on the fast track last month right after the billionaire’s meetings with Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — ran into a wall of opposition from prominent Tea Party activists. They burned up the phone lines at the Capitol and publicly criticized what they saw as special treatment for the wealthy and connected.

Not long after those activists spoke out against the carve-out legislation in an open letter to the billionaire, Patrick pulled the “Buffett Bill” off the Texas Senate agenda, effectively killing it for now [...]

John Oliver eviscerates one of Warren Buffett's favorite companies

One of Warren Buffett's favorite stocks has just been attacked by HBO comedian John Oliver.

DaVita operates dialysis centers, and Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns a nearly 20% stake in the company. It was the subject of a scathing 24-minute long segment on Sunday's "Last Week Tonight."

Oliver accuses DaVita of pushing patients to continue receiving long and expensive dialysis treatments instead of having kidney transplants, which could eliminate the need for dialysis.

Berkshire News Briefs - 2/6/17

Buffett Bought $12 Billion of Stock From Election Through Friday

“We’ve, net, bought $12 billion of common stocks since the election,” he said in an interview with Charlie Rose that aired on Friday. Buffett didn’t identify the securities that he picked.

Purchases of that magnitude represent a major pickup in activity for Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire. During the first nine months of last year, the company bought $5.2 billion and sold or redeemed roughly $20 billion worth of stocks, according to a regulatory filing. In 2015, Berkshire bought about $10 billion of equity securities. [...]

NV Energy and Apple partnering to build solar energy resources in Nevada

NV Energy and Apple have jointly announced an agreement to build 200 megawatts of additional solar energy in Nevada to support the tech company’s Reno-based data center with renewable energy. Completion is expected by 2019.

First, NV Energy must apply with the state’s Public Utilities Commission to enter into a power purchase agreement for the solar power plant. The acquisition will bring the utility’s total to more than 529 megawatts of new solar resources “in construction in Nevada or under review for approval,” according to a statement from NV Energy. That’s a significant gain on the company’s 491 megawatts of universal solar resources currently serving customers.

Apple plans to dedicate up to 5 megawatts of the new power to a subscription solar program NV Energy has in the works for residential and commercial customers. [...]

Why Berkshire Is Betting on Airlines

So why the change of heart? It stemmed, in part, from a presentation that American Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker gave at an investor conference in March, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing Berkshire’s strategy. [...]

The analysis prompted Ted Weschler, one of Buffett’s investing deputies, to take a closer look at airlines, the people said. Before joining Berkshire, Weschler’s hedge fund had backed Parker in his successful 2005 bid to combine America West with US Airways. Through that process, the two men built a rapport. [...]

New life, and a nod to the past, as National Indemnity building set to become apartments

Todd and Mary Heistand are drawn to old buildings. They’re fans of Omaha history. They remain riveted by the climb of the city’s most storied business persona, billionaire Warren Buffett.

So it didn’t take much convincing for the Heistands, who own NuStyle Development, to buy the midtown National Indemnity Co. building upon which grew much of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway empire.

Numerous structures around 3024 Harney St. were razed recently to make way for a separate and future mixed-use project. NuStyle’s intercession means the 65-year-old property, which until recently was home base for the 77-year-old insurance company, will survive as a converted 48-unit apartment complex to be called the NICO. [...]

Warren Buffett shares oracle's wisdom in HBO documentary

Warren Buffett has long been a source of fascination, and not just for Berkshire Hathaway investors who flock to hear what the "Oracle of Omaha" has to say about money. HBO thus provides a sort-of public service to posterity with "Becoming Warren Buffett," and those who watch the feature-length documentary will feel the richer for it. [...]

Director Peter Kunhardt has essentially sat back and let Buffett tell his own tale, with selected voices from his life and business career thrown in throughout as a garnish. Beyond direct-to-camera interviews, part of the material comes from Buffett addressing a group of high school kids, dispensing homespun wisdom life and money that's self-effacing but infused with considerable authority. [...]

"Becoming Warren Buffett," the Man, Not the Investor

The documentary, which was made with the cooperation of Buffett and his family, deals with Buffett the businessman and investor, but it’s Buffett the man and his complicated, and often difficult, relationships with the people he loved most that are the film’s real subject. [...]

There’s another paradox the film hints at, too: the qualities that made it challenging for Buffett to deal with people are the very qualities that made him such a brilliant investor. [...]

BUFFETT: What I tell people who are anti-immigration

Legendary investor Warren Buffett gave a simple argument for why he’s pro-immigration.

“Well, immigration, this country is built on it. I always say to people that are anti-immigration, ‘let’s put it in retroactively.’ And everybody leaves,” the 86-year-old billionaire said on a panel with his friend Bill Gates on Friday at Columbia University in New York. [...]

He later added: “This country has been blessed by immigrants. And you can take them from any country you want and they’ve come here and they’ve found something that’s unleashed the potential that the place where they left did not, and we’re the product of it.” [...]

Berkshire Misc. Briefs - 1/5/17

There was a lot of news last month, and I fell behind on posting, so there are three posts this time. This is part 3, with miscellaneous news that didn't fit in the other two categories. That doesn't mean these are any less interesting, though!

(Part 1 - General Business | Part 2 - Subsidiaries)

HBO Sets Warren Buffett Documentary Premiere Date

HBO announced the premiere date for upcoming documentary “Becoming Warren Buffett” on Wednesday. The personal profile will premiere on Jan. 30 at 10 p.m./9c and will tell the true story of how an ambitious, numbers-obsessed boy from Nebraska became one of the richest men in the world.

Told primarily in Buffett’s own words, the film features never-before-released home videos, family photographs, archival footage and interviews with family and friends. [...]

Watch the trailer on YouTube.

Why Yahoo Shared an Investor Meeting in Omaha With the World

In April 2016, for the first time Yahoo Finance livestreamed the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting; a profitable venture for the industry-leading site (Yahoo Finance in November recorded 63 million monthly unique visitors, per comScore). This livestream was Yahoo Finance's longest, most complex endeavor to date, given it hosted the event on its platform. [...]

It all started with an email from Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. "It said, 'Call me,'" recalled Yahoo Finance editor Andy Serwer. "So, I called him up. And he said 'I've got this idea. What do you think about livestreaming my annual meeting?' And I said 'yes' as quickly as I could!" [...]

The first-of-its-kind meeting was Buffett's idea. "I asked him later why he came to us," said Serwer. "He said there were several reasons: you successfully executed an NFL game. (The Buffalo Bills-Jacksonville Jaguars matchup in October 2015 netted 15.2 million viewers.) You have the technology to do it. You have the global platform. And, then he also said, 'I have this relationship with you and I know that I can just call you up anytime and get through to you.'"

Berkshire Hathaway to bet on earthquake insurance in Japan

An insurance company under Berkshire Hathaway of the U.S. is considering making a foray into Japan, betting on the potential of the country's earthquake insurance market.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance plans to operate as a reinsurer, purchasing earthquake insurance contracts from casualty insurers in Japan, according to Marc Breuil, a BHSI executive in charge of Asia. [...]

After BHSI starts selling earthquake reinsurance in Japan, earthquake policies may become widespread in the country. Currently, about 10% of Japanese companies are insured against temblors. This is stunted compared to the rate in other earthquake-prone countries.

One major reason for the low percentage is the relatively high premiums for earthquake insurance when compared to fire insurance. Another reason is that insurers have refrained from actively selling earthquake policies to companies, citing unstable prices in the reinsurance market.

Buffett's Berkshire Is Urged to Sell Fossil Fuel Stocks

A Nebraska nonprofit has said it will propose that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sell its investments in oil refiner Phillips 66 and other companies involved in fossil fuels over 12 years.

The Nebraska Peace Foundation, which focuses on anti-war, civil rights and environmental issues, said it submitted a formal proposal for Berkshire shareholders to consider at the Omaha-based conglomerate's annual meeting next May 6.

Buffett’s Son Steps Down From Coke Board to Focus on Charity

Howard Buffett, the son of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett, is stepping down from the board of Coca-Cola Co. to spend more time working at his foundation. [...] He runs the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which supports sustainable agriculture and conflict resolution programs. He also has operated a 1,500-acre (600-hectare) farm in Illinois and has written books on topics such as world hunger and conservation.

Warren Buffett makes appearance at Dolphins-Cardinals game

The Miami Dolphins have a special guest for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. Business tycoon Warren Buffett roamed the Dolphins’ sideline pregame to talk to members of the organization and show his support.

Buffett, who is one of the richest people in the world, has attended Dolphins games in the past. He was at last year’s home opener and is friends with four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. [...]