Omaha, May 2, 2026, 09:02 (CDT)
On Saturday, Greg Abel stepped in front of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders for his debut as chief executive, just hours after the conglomerate posted a jump in quarterly operating earnings, along with a record cash hoard nearing $400 billion.
This year, Warren Buffett stepped aside—still chairman, but in the crowd—leaving Greg Abel at the helm for Berkshire’s annual gathering in Omaha. Sixty years of Buffett’s direction, and now the company’s culture and capital discipline are in Abel’s hands. Since Buffett named Abel as his successor last year, Berkshire shares have trailed the S&P 500 by 39 percentage points, according to Reuters.
Berkshire reported first-quarter operating earnings climbed to $11.35 billion, up from $9.64 billion in the same period last year. Net earnings attributable to shareholders jumped as well, coming in at $10.11 billion—more than double. Still, Berkshire repeated its caution that net profit figures, swayed by investment swings, can be “extremely misleading” for any given quarter. Berkshire Hathaway
The balance sheet hands Abel both an opportunity and a headache. Berkshire’s latest filing lists $51.48 billion in cash and cash equivalents across its insurance and other arms, $339.26 billion sunk into short-term U.S. Treasury bills, plus $6.64 billion in cash on the books at its railroad, utilities, and energy divisions. Treasury bills, of course, are short-term U.S. government debt.
Berkshire kept offloading more stocks than it bought. The filing lists $24.09 billion in equity sales and $15.94 billion in purchases for the quarter. The company also spent $235 million on buybacks—its first since May 2024, according to Reuters. Berkshire completed its $9.5 billion acquisition of Occidental Petroleum’s OxyChem unit back in January, the filing noted.
Still, the operating backdrop was messy. Berkshire flagged that a number of its retail units were hit by softening demand—a mix of tougher competition, shakier economic outlook, and shifting consumer confidence weighed. Over at Clayton Homes, home sales slipped. Consumer products sales also dropped at Fruit of the Loom, Garan, Jazwares, and Forest River.
Geico is still moving the needle. The auto insurer saw pre-tax underwriting profit drop to $1.42 billion, down from $2.17 billion, squeezed by higher claim frequency, rising claim severity, plus costlier policy acquisition. All this is critical as Geico works to reclaim share lost to competitors like Progressive.
Some segments turned in stronger numbers. Insurance underwriting profits at Berkshire climbed to $1.72 billion, benefiting from a quiet period for major catastrophe losses. BNSF’s after-tax earnings increased 13.4%, driven by improved revenue and greater operating efficiency. Earnings at Berkshire Hathaway Energy edged up 1.5%.
This year’s meeting didn’t draw the usual crowd. According to AP, just over half the arena’s seats were filled at the start—a far cry from the 40,000-plus who once packed in for Buffett and Charlie Munger. The event kicked off with a video honoring Buffett, then Abel took the mic to say the company would retire jerseys for both Buffett and Munger, their names set to hang from the rafters.
No one turned up expecting drama. “Greg has a formidable challenge, replacing the greatest investor who ever lived,” said Paul Lountzis, a money manager at his 34th Berkshire meeting, speaking to Reuters. Chris Bloomstran, who runs Semper Augustus Investments Group, told AP, “hearing what the businesses are doing is what it’s all about.” Reuters
The old Omaha routine was still in play over the weekend. At Borsheims, Berkshire’s jewelry outpost, CEO Karen Goracke told WOWT their shareholder sales event was “probably bigger than any collection in any jewelry store in the world right now.” The store was stocked up for 10,000 expected visitors just on Friday, according to the report. https://www.wowt.com
Berkshire’s leadership keeps pointing to stability. Brooks Running boss Dan Sheridan told AP that moving Abel into the role would stick closely to the six decades of values laid down by Buffett. Dairy Queen chief Troy Bader added that with Buffett staying on as chairman, Berkshire’s got both continuity and a smooth transition.
There’s more on shareholders’ minds than just who’s on the stage. They’ll vote this time on executive pay and an employee oversight proposal. But the bigger issue is Abel’s plans for Berkshire’s cash pile—will buybacks finally scale up, or stay minimal? Investors are also watching whether a group anchored in insurance, rail, energy, and retail can keep up when the market’s fixated on tech and AI.
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