- Berkshire’s Operating Earnings improved 21% year over year driven by higher insurance rates and higher interest rates.
- BNSF and BHE both reported steep YoY declines in earnings, with Warren Buffett providing cautious commentary on both in his letter.
- GEICO posted record profits, partly by cutting advertising. It lost 9.8% of its customers in 2023.
- Berkshire’s reinvestment track record, aside from Apple, has been terrible over the past 10 years. Even with Apple, I believe it’s been poor.
- I believe Berkshire is overvalued right now.
With what has become an enjoyable annual tradition, I spent Saturday morning drinking coffee (in Florida this year!) and reading Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) 2023 Annual Report. After a heartfelt tribute to Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett went into his usual missives, this time centered around his younger sister Bertie, while describing Berkshire’s 2023 Operating Performance.
While always entertaining, recent annual letters have been somewhat predictable in tone and outlook. This one struck me as different. His tone on some of Berkshire’s largest businesses (BNSF and BHE) seemed far more sour than usual. Buffett also confirmed what I’ve been saying on here for the past few years, that it is nearly impossible for Berkshire to find value accretive acquisitions due to its now massive size.
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