Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK BRK posted a 3.8% decline in second-quarter operating earnings, dragged down by weak insurance underwriting and a hefty $3.8 billion impairment tied to its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company KHC.
However, other parts of Warren Buffett’s sprawling conglomerate helped cushion the blow.
Insurance underwriting profits fell 12% year-over-year to $1.99 billion, with reinsurance losses offsetting modest gains at GEICO.
In contrast, BNSF Railway saw a rebound with 19.5% growth year over year to $1.47 billion, logging strong earnings growth on the back of improved freight volumes and better pricing.
However, BNSF’s outstanding debt was $23.9 billion as of June 30, 2025 an increase of $355 million since December 31.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy delivered steady results with 7.2% growth to $702 million, supported by regulated utilities that provided a buffer amid broader market uncertainty.
Berkshire didn’t repurchase any of its own shares during the period.
The firm’s earnings report highlighted that it will not repurchase stock if it reduces consolidated cash, cash equivalents and U.S. Treasury Bills holdings to below $30 billion.
But Berkshire affirmed that it may “repurchase its shares any time that Warren Buffett, Berkshire’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, believes that the repurchase price is below Berkshire’s intrinsic value, conservatively determined.”
In this regard, The Wall Street Journal quoted CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert, “Against the backdrop of very mediocre results, the lack of buybacks does not send a particularly confident or inspiring message for investors looking to get back into the stock.”
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An Edward Jones analyst, Kyle Sanders told Reuters, “Investors are getting antsy and want to seek activity, and nothing is happening. Buffett definitely views the market as overvalued, and will sit back and wait for something to come to him.”
On the consumer side, Berkshire’s results were more mixed. Consumer products group revenues declined 5.1% year over year.
Year-to-date revenues declined at Fruit of the Loom (down 11.7%), Garan (down 10.1%) and Jazwares (down 38.5%), primarily attributable to lower volumes, including the impacts of business restructurings and uncertainties arising from international trade policies and tariffs, which produced delays in orders and shipments, particularly in the second quarter.
Service group revenues increased 8.9% in the second quarter, with p pre-tax earnings increasing 15.2%.
Berkshire said that shareholders’ equity at June 30 was $668 billion, an increase of $18.6 billion since December 31, 2024.
Still, the most eye-catching figure remains Berkshire’s growing cash reserves.
As of June 30, the firm sat on $344.1 billion, just below the March record. With valuations cooling and interest rates still elevated, analysts speculate that Berkshire could target acquisitions across sectors—ranging from mid-sized insurers and industrials to energy infrastructure and even logistics.
“He probably feels that there’s less opportunity to allocate their capital at the moment and he’s talked about being patient,” Macrae Sykes, a portfolio manager at Gabelli, which owns Berkshire shares told The Wall Street Journal. “That’s a continuation of the last several quarters.”
As Buffett prepares to step aside at the end of 2025, successor Greg Abel may be poised to put some of that war chest to work, reshaping Berkshire’s dealmaking legacy in a new era.
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