On Saturday, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK) (NYSE:BRK) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results that showed net earnings attributable to shareholders slipping to $66,968 million for the year from $88,995 million in 2024. The release landed alongside investor focus on new CEO Greg Abel‘s first letter and what a post-Warren Buffett era could mean for deploying more than $300 billion of cash.
According to Berkshire Hathaway’s earning report, net earnings of $19,199 million for the fourth quarter, slightly below $19,694 million a year earlier, while operating earnings fell to $10,200 million from $14,527 million. For the full year, operating earnings eased to $44,486 million versus $47,437 million in 2024, even as headline net income moved more sharply because of investment-related swings.
Investors also came into the weekend watching for revenue after expectations pointed to $92.91 billion for the quarter, down from $94.92 billion a year earlier, based on Benzinga Pro estimates cited in the preview. Berkshire has topped revenue expectations for more than four straight quarters, setting up another test of whether the company’s operating businesses can keep pace even when markets fluctuate.
Greg Abel’s Leadership Marks New Era
The Saturday release also served as a handoff moment: Greg Abel is now the CEO, and the annual shareholder letter is arriving without Buffett’s signature for the first time in decades. The market’s attention has been on whether Abel outlines a different playbook for Berkshire’s cash-heavy balance sheet, including the possibility of new deals, fresh equity buys, or even a dividend policy shift.
Portfolio decisions are part of that backdrop, with the preview pointing to a filing that signaled plans to sell Berkshire’s position in Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC). The same preview noted Berkshire has been trimming Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in recent quarters, leaving investors looking for any indication on whether that reduction continues under Abel.
Outside of legacy holdings, investors have also been watching newer positions that have shown up in Berkshire’s lineup, including UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and New York Times (NYSE:NYT). Another open question flagged in the preview is whether Abel clarifies how those picks were sourced and whether they are meant to become longer-term anchors.
How Investment Fluctuations Impact Earnings
As per the earning report, the company’s 2025 net income included $30,737 million of investment gains, down from $41,558 million in 2024, and it also booked other-than-temporary impairment charges tied to Kraft Heinz and Occidental totaling $8,255 million for the year. In the fourth quarter alone, those impairment losses were $4,495 million, a key driver separating operating performance from reported net results.
Berkshire also broke out how accounting treatment moved the investment line: unrealized gains contributed $9.6 billion in the quarter and $12.9 billion for the year, while 2024 included a full-year unrealized loss of $38.1 billion. Realized gains after tax were $3.9 billion in the quarter and $17.8 billion for 2025, compared with $79.6 billion for 2024.
As Berkshirehathaway noted, the company cautioned that quarter-to-quarter changes in investment gains can distort per-share figures for investors who don’t track the accounting mechanics. Net earnings per average equivalent Class A share were $46,563 for 2025 versus $61,900 in 2024, and Class B was $31.04 versus $41.27.
Market performance added another layer of context to the leadership change, with the preview highlighting that the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) rose 16.6% in 2025 while Berkshire’s stock gained 11.4%. The preview also said that among Berkshire’s top 10 holdings at year-end, only American Express, Bank of America and Alphabet outpaced the S&P 500 in 2025.
Insurance Sector Drives Record Q3 Performance
Historically, Berkshire Hathaway’s strong performance has been bolstered by significant gains in its insurance sector, with a reported 216% increase in underwriting profit during Q3, climbing to $2.369 billion, which contributed to an overall operating earnings surge of 34% to $13.49 billion. This context underscores the importance of insurance profits, especially as Berkshire transitions under new leadership with Greg Abel at the helm following Warren Buffett’s long tenure.
This focus on underwriting success and operational strength sets the stage for evaluating how Abel plans to manage Berkshire’s $354.3 billion in cash and investments, a strategy that may be influenced by the company’s historical performance, as highlighted in previous reports detailing Berkshire’s robust insurance float of approximately $176 billion as of September 30, 2025, which is indicative of its financial resilience in fluctuating markets. For further details, see Berkshire’s big Q3 fueled by over 200% underwriting surge.
Insurance Sector: A Key Performance Indicator
Operating results showed insurance remained a major contributor, though underwriting profitability cooled from the prior year. Insurance-underwriting earnings were $1,561 million in the fourth quarter versus $3,409 million in 2024, and $7,258 million for the year versus $9,020 million, as shared in the report.
Insurance-investment income also stepped down, with $3,072 million in the quarter compared with $4,088 million a year earlier, and $12,513 million for 2025 versus $13,670 million. The preview had pointed to the insurance segment as a key item to watch after Berkshire previously highlighted a 34% year-over-year jump in third-quarter operating earnings driven by stronger insurance profits.
Elsewhere in the operating lineup, BNSF delivered $1,347 million of fourth-quarter earnings and $5,476 million for the year, while Berkshire Hathaway Energy posted $691 million for the quarter and $3,979 million for 2025. Manufacturing, service and retailing contributed $3,370 million in the quarter and $13,647 million for the year.
The company also disclosed that insurance float was about $176 billion at Dec. 31, 2025, up roughly $5 billion from year-end 2024. Shares outstanding at year-end were 1,438,223 Class A equivalent shares, with Class B per-share amounts defined as 1/1,500th of the Class A figures.
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