Ahead of Saturday’s annual shareholder meeting, Berkshire Hathaway reported first quarter earnings that showed a record operating profit of $11.22 billion.
In the first quarter last year, operating profits at Berkshire tallied $8.1 billion.
The company’s investment gains, however, were down sharply from the prior year period, tallying just $1.48 billion against some $24.75 billion last year.
Apple’s (AAPL) roughly 10% decline in the first quarter weighed on results here, with the tech giant accounting for around 40% of Berkshire equity holdings.
In its first quarter report, Berkshire also disclosed it lightened up its Apple holdings during the first quarter. At the end of 2023, the value of Berkshire’s Apple position stood at $174.3 billion; at the end of Q1, this position’s value stood at $135.4 billion.
At last year’s annual meeting, Buffett took time, however, to emphasize to investors that this stock does not actually comprise this percentage of Berkshire’s overall portfolio, which includes its other fully-owned subsidiaries.