Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares rose 0.5% in premarket trading Monday after Greg Abel's first annual meeting as chief executive on Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska. [1]
The conglomerate reported an 18% year-over-year rise in first-quarter operating earnings, helped by a 28.5% jump in insurance underwriting profit to about $1.7 billion. Berkshire also said it held nearly $400 billion in cash. [1]
Abel said Berkshire will not chase artificial intelligence projects “for the sake of AI,” and framed the company’s approach as measured rather than aggressive. When a question came from a deepfake version of Warren Buffett during the meeting, Abel discussed cybersecurity risks tied to AI. [1]
He also said Berkshire does not expect to break up or sell subsidiaries, calling it “an efficient conglomerate” with no excess management layers. “We are a conglomerate but we are an efficient conglomerate. We don't have layers of management,” Abel said. [1]
UBS analyst Brian Meredith said Abel “performed well in his first Annual Meeting as CEO,” citing his grasp of Berkshire’s major businesses and plans to drive operational excellence. Executives who joined the meeting included Ajit Jain, Adam Johnson and Katie Farmer. [1]
Berkshire’s next focus is its ongoing stewardship of the businesses under its umbrella, after the annual meeting and the release of the quarter’s earnings on May 2. [1]