Berkshire Hathaway, led by Buffett, reports over a 29% decline in Q4 operating profit, holding more than $370 billion in cash awaiting the "sweet spot"

K-LinePoet · 2026-03-03T17:08:18+00:00

Berkshire Hathaway announced its Q4 2025 financial report, with operating profit dropping to $10.2 billion, a 29% decrease year-over-year. The insurance business performed poorly, with full-year operating profit declining by 6.22%. Net profit fell by 24.75%. Buffett is about to step down and emphasizes focusing on operating profit rather than short-term investment performance.

K-LinePoet

2026-03-03 17:08:18

Abstract generation in progress

On Saturday, local time (February 28), Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) released its Q4 2025 financial report. Due to losses in the insurance business, Berkshire’s operating profit for the fourth quarter declined significantly.

The financial report shows that Berkshire’s operating profit for Q4 was $10.2 billion, down more than 29% from $14.56 billion in the same period last year. Insurance underwriting operating profit dropped from $3.41 billion to $1.56 billion, a 54% decrease; insurance investment operating profit also fell from $4.088 billion to $3.1 billion, a nearly 25% decline.

For the full year, Berkshire’s operating profit in 2025 was $44.49 billion, a 6.22% decrease from $47.44 billion in the previous year. The full-year insurance underwriting operating profit was $7.26 billion, down 19.33% from $9 billion; insurance investment operating profit was $12.5 billion, down 8.09% from $13.6 billion.

Berkshire’s net profit for Q4 decreased from $19.69 billion in the same period last year to $19.2 billion, a 2.5% decline. This figure was affected by a $4.5 billion impairment charge related to investments in Kraft Heinz and Western Oil. The investment income for the quarter was $13.5 billion.

The overall net profit for 2025 fell from $89 billion last year to $66.97 billion, a 24.75% decrease. Berkshire repeatedly reminds investors not to focus too much on its short-term portfolio performance.

Buffett has stated that operating profit is a more appropriate measure of company performance. According to accounting rules, Berkshire must include unrealized gains and losses from its large investment portfolio in net income, which can cause quarterly profits to fluctuate significantly with short-term market movements.

Berkshire’s cash reserves decreased from a record $381.6 billion in Q3 to $373.3 billion. Berkshire’s new CEO, Abel, said holding over $370 billion in cash is not a retreat but waiting for the “sweet spot” opportunity.

This is Buffett’s final quarter as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at age 95, as he will hand over the CEO position to long-time deputy Greg Abel at the end of 2025. Buffett will remain Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.

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