Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) shares have hit a new high after posting record profits in the company’s Q4 2024 earnings report. Berkshire on Saturday said fourth-quarter profit from its 189 operating businesses rose 71% to $14.53 billion, and excluding currency gains totaled $13.38 billion, exceeding analyst forecasts. Full-year operating profit rose 27% to $47.44 billion, also a record.
As a result of the profits, BRK stock rose as much as 4.3% to $749,611, according to NYSE data. This level surpasses the $741,971 recorded by some stock price services on June 3, 2024, following a trading glitch. Berkshire Hathaway’s market value now stands at about $1.08 trillion. Additionally, Class B shares of BRK surged 5.04% to $502.89.
In his annual shareholder letter, Buffett said Berkshire outpaced his expectations and singled out Geico Chief Executive Todd Combs for improving the car insurer’s underwriting while cutting costs. He wrote that “at 94, it won’t be long before Greg Abel replaces me as CEO and will be writing the annual letters.” Abel, 62, is a Berkshire vice chairman.
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Also revealed by Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) was a record $26.8 billion in corporate income tax payments for 2024. As a result of the positive earnings report, two Wall Street analysts—Meyer Shields of KBW and Brian Meredith of UBS—raised their price targets on the stock. Shields boosted his price target on Class A stock to $775,000 from $750,000 and lifted his earnings-per-share estimate for 2025 to $31,600 from $30,140. He maintains a Market Perform rating on the stock.
On the other hand, Brian Meredith also has a Buy rating on the stock and lifted his price target on the Class A shares to $836,135 from $803,444. The UBS analyst also boosted his 2025 earnings estimate to $31,565 from $30,297 per Class A share, a roughly 5% increase. “Geico appears to have firmly turned the corner with strong sequential growth in policies in force and continued attractive underwriting margins,” Meredith wrote in a note to investors.