Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile surges to record $397 billion

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s cash pile jumped to its highest level ever, reaching $397 billion, in Greg Abel’s first quarter as chief executive officer.

After a slight decrease late last year, the firm’s cash hoard jumped in the first quarter as it offloaded a net $8.1 billion of equity holdings in the period, the conglomerate said in a regulatory filing disclosing first-quarter results. Berkshire’s net cash on hand at the end of the quarter stood at roughly $380 billion.

Abel, who replaced legendary investor Warren Buffett as CEO this year, also resumed stock buybacks, handing shareholders a payout for the first time in more than a year. Berkshire bought back $234.2 million of its own shares in the period.

The results show how Abel is starting to put his mark on Berkshire, where there are some signs investors still aren’t sold on the new CEO. Once synonymous with consistent outperformance, the $1 trillion conglomerate’s shares have been trounced by the broader market since Warren Buffett announced he was retiring and handing Abel the reins a year ago.

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The CEO has previously said that he and Buffett had determined that the intrinsic value of the firm’s shares was higher than their market value, prompting them to restart buybacks. Berkshire’s stock declined 5.9% this year as of market close on Friday.

Operating earnings totaled $11.35 billion, up nearly 18% from a year earlier, in the three months through March, the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate said in a statement Saturday.

Underwriting earnings from the firm’s collection of insurance businesses surged to $1.7 billion, up about 29% from a year ago, when the units were hit by losses tied to the Los Angeles wildfires.

Abel decided to sell the equity holdings that were previously managed by Todd Combs, Berkshire’s former stock picker, the Wall Street Journal reported last month, citing unnamed people familiar with Berkshire’s investments. JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced in December that it hired Combs for a broad investing advisory role.