Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) earnings arrived after the market closed on Friday afternoon, ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting over the weekend. The company showed earnings of $2,149 per Class A share in the report, which covers the three months through March. Revenue in the period came in at $45.45 billion. On Friday’s market investors seemed relatively pessimistic heading into the release of the report. Shares in the conglomerate trended down and finished the day at $192,255 for Class A units.
In the run up to the release of the first quarter earnings report, analysts following Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) were looking for the company to show earnings of $2167.67 per Class A share. The actual numbers tend to matter relatively little to Berkshire shareholders, what they want to know is what the company is planning to invest in for the rest of the year.
Shareholders flock to Omaha to bask in Oracle glow
Omaha, Nebraska is the home of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) and it’s about to be the setting of what can only be described the SuperBowl of investing. Warren Buffett’s investors will line up beside journalists and fans to get a glimpse of the man reputed to be the country’s best investors. There’s also a couple of questions they’ll want to ask him.
The rigmarole of question and avoid around Warren Buffett’s retirement and the succession plans at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) are sure to take center stage once again, but there may be a little less emphasis this time around. More important to investors may be questions about Buffett’s performance in the recent years, and his plans to alter Berkshire performance in coming year.
Coke and General Electric take center stage
There are two topics that are likely to take up a disproportionate number of column inches this weekend. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and dividends are two of the big themes that the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) will have to deal with this weekend. Both have been in the headlines quite often in recent weeks
Buffett has been involved in a battle to keep executive salaries low at Coca Cola Company after a compensation plan announced by the firm planned to dilute the holdings of current shareholders by an outsized amount. The company appears to have backed down from the plan, but the tiff is sure to be a center of attention at this weekend’s meeting in Omaha.
Dividends are also likely on the minds of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) shareholders, but mostly the fact that the company doesn’t pay one. Despite its long-standing profitability and its solid financial position Berkshire Hathaway has no intention of paying a dividend and investors are being to question that choice.
Warren Buffett is probably a better manager of money than every person who carries shares in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B), but he’s been collecting a huge amount of their cash inside the company. There will be a motion to compel the company’s board to pay a dividend this weekend, whether it passes could reflect the way Warren Buffet’s shareholders feel about his recent performance.
