Warren Buffett and Greg Abel during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting held in Omaha, Nebraska on May 4, 2024.
CNBC
Warren Buffett was his mother about tariffs and recent market turmoil, but he will finally speak to his heart as the 94-year-old investment legend begins his annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting on Saturday.
Tens of thousands of shareholders will descend on Omaha, Nebraska this weekend, making it the annual gathering called “Woodstock for Capitalists.” This year’s meeting marks the 60th anniversary of Buffett’s leading company, and is the second without Charlie Munger, Buffett’s longtime partner, who passed away in the second half of 2023.
The biggest event in Cornhusker state, next to Nebraska-Oklahoma’s football game, comes as this year’s meeting has become uncertain after President Donald Trump’s aggressive deployment of the highest tariffs on generational imports. (Many people were stopped 90 days later.) Wall Street economists on the left and right are warnings that there is a possibility of a recession as recent data points to signs of a weaker economy.
“Berkshire owns so many companies, it’s basically at the forefront of everything in terms of the economy collapse. Is it even worse than what the numbers already show?” said Steve Check, founder of Check Capital Management, who counts Berkshire as the biggest holding. “More than anything, I hope he is against the way tariffs were done. Everyone is looking for what Warren Buffett has to say.”
Investor North Star
“Oracle of Omaha” may have already made him speak to his actions. Berkshire dumped more than $134 billion in value in 2024, selling more shares than it bought in more than nine quarters. This is primarily due to cuts from Berkshire’s two largest shareholdings, Apple and Bank of America. As a result of sales, Berkshire’s vast cash pile had grown to yet another record at $334.2 billion by December.
The world wants to hear if Buffett, the most well-known proponent of value investment, will use the April market meltdown to search for bargains and lay the foundation for the transaction. Buffett doesn’t predict the direction of the short-term market, but investors listen closely to his ongoing signal of trust in the US economy despite the tariff shock.
“I think the big question in every person’s mind is what they do with the pile of cash they sit on, and more specifically when it can unfold, as he can help him measure investors when all the clear signs are bright.” Many investors “are tending to consider Warren as a North Star,” he noted.
Buffett made some introductory remarks at 9am on Saturday, followed by a few hours of questions and answer panels. Buffett’s designated successor, Greg Abel, and Berkshire’s insurance chief Ajit Jain join Buffett on stage in the morning, with only Buffett and Abel together in the afternoon. Q&A sessions will be broadcast in English and Mandarin on CNBC and on the webcast.
Big Apple Questions
Shareholders are also interested in explaining his motivation for Buffett to slash his long-standing Apple stock. Berkshire’s Apple Holding has only 300 million shares after a quarter-splitting sale since the end of September, with many speculating that Buffett has been selling shares for the time being.
At last year’s annual meeting, Buffett suggested that sales were tax reasons followed by substantial profits. He also implied that selling Apple could lead to wishing to avoid a higher tax bill in the future if tax rates rise to fund the US Yawning US budget deficit. With the change in the government in Washington, shareholders want to hear Buffett’s reasoning today.
“We’ve been working hard to get into the world,” said David Cass, a professor of finance at the University of Maryland. “If he sold more, it probably shows that it felt totally worth it or that Warren Buffett felt he was his genius, he could see ahead of it with some of the risks he could face apples if there were trade wars and tariffs.”
Berkshire’s first quarter revenue report is scheduled for Saturday morning and shows the conglomerate’s top equity holdings.
