Tencent Securities News Beijing time in the early morning of August 5, according to foreign media reports, "God of shares" Warren Buffett (Warren Buffet) Berkshire Hathaway (Berkshire Hathaway) after the close of the US stock market on Friday released the company's second quarter 2017 results. Berkshire Hathaway reported second-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of $4.262 billion, down from $5.001 billion in the same period last year, and earnings per Class A share of $2592, down from $3042 in the same period last year.
In the second quarter, Berkshire increased its stake in Apple Inc by $200m, reduced its stake in IBM by $2.9bn and reduced its stake in Wells Fargo & Co by $500m.
Berkshire's second-quarter net income was $4.26 billion.
Berkshire's second-quarter operating profit was $4.12 billion, down from $4.61 billion a year earlier.
Analysts had on average expected Berkshire's second-quarter earnings per share of $2932.29 on revenue of $57.6 billion, according to FactSet, a financial information provider.
Total equity in the second quarter was $304.1 billion, compared with $26.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the second quarter.
Berkshire Hathaway held a $19.4 billion stake in Apple Inc as of June 30, compared with $19.2 billion as of March 31.
It held a $8.3 billion stake in IBM as of June 30, compared with $11.2 billion as of March 31.
It held a stake of $27.3 billion in Wells Fargo & Co as of June 30, compared with $27.8 billion as of March 31.
Berkshire has struggled to achieve earnings growth this year in large part because of a decline in the performance of its insurance business. Friday's results showed that although the railway and energy sectors achieved profit growth, it was not enough to offset underwriting losses in the second quarter, resulting in a third consecutive quarter of decline in operating profit.
Buffett, 86, still has a lot of cash on hand, with Berkshire holding nearly $100 billion at the end of the second quarter. The record cash balance prompted the billionaire investor to say earlier this year that he had not set foot in an M & A deal for a long time, sparking speculation that he might launch a big deal.
Meanwhile, Buffett has been looking for other areas of investment. Berkshire has acquired a stake in a real estate investment trust and agreed in June to Home Capital Group Inc, a troubled Canadian mortgage lender. Provide support.
In early July, Berkshire's energy division announced a $9 billion acquisition of the parent company of Texas's largest transmission operator, but the deal was challenged by Elliott Management, a hedge fund owned by Paul Singer Singer. In addition, Berkshire held talks with Masayoshi Son, chairman of Sprint, about investing in the company, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Second-quarter net profit of Berkshire's rail operator, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Transportation (BNSF), rose 24% year-on-year to $998 million, benefiting from a sharp increase in coal and other products transported so far this year.
The insurance division, which includes Geico and the world's two largest reinsurers, posted an underwriting loss of $22 million, compared with a gain of $337 million in the same period last year. Investment income from these sectors fell about 1 per cent year-on-year to $965 million.
Book value, a closely watched measure of assets minus liabilities, rose 2.7% to $182816 a share in the quarter.
Berkshire B shares closed up 0.52% on Friday and fell more than 1% to $177 at one point after the after-hours results were announced. (nebula)