This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) will likely report first-quarter 2025 earnings on or around May 2. You might want to buy it before that date even if you have the same question on your mind as everyone else.
That question is highly likely to be, "What is CEO Warren Buffett investing in?" And it highlights why Berkshire Hathaway is a buy today and why the company is different from just about every other company you can buy.
Berkshire Hathaway's big move in 2024
Berkshire, which is technically a massive conglomerate, had an interesting year in 2024. The big news was the fact that Buffett and his team spent the year selling far more often than buying within the company's stock portfolio. To put some numbers on that, cash and short-term investments nearly doubled last year.
Given that the S&P 500 index is in correction territory today (down by more than 10%), that may sound like a prescient move on the part of the man known affectionately as the Oracle of Omaha. While the decision to sell assets was likely related to valuation concerns, Buffett's investment approach doesn't include market timing. So it was likely more of a happy coincidence than anything else. Indeed, Berkshire Hathaway is so large that it has to move slowly and deliberately.
Regardless of how or why Buffett and his team dramatically increased the cash on the company's balance sheet, it is well positioned to weather the market uncertainty. And, more importantly, to step in as a buyer when he believes it has found an attractively priced investment.
That could happen within its portfolio of publicly traded companies or within its large collection of fully owned businesses. The first-quarter update will be scoured for indications that Buffett believes it is time to start buying again.
A vastly different kind of company
The fact that investors are likely to be more interested in the investment decisions of Warren Buffett than the performance of the conglomerate that he and his team manage is important. Basically, Berkshire is his investment vehicle.
As the chart below highlights, that vehicle has vastly outperformed both the price performance and the total return of the S&P 500 index over time.
Very few investors have achieved this level of success. It makes sense that Wall Street would hang on Buffett's every word and his every investment decision.
From an individual investors' point of view, however, when you buy Berkshire Hathaway, you are likely doing so because you want to give Buffett your money so he and his team can invest it for you. That, plus the large and diversified portfolio of companies it owns, make Berkshire much more like a mutual fund than a traditional company.
If you view the company in this manner, then the upcoming earnings release around May 2 is actually kind of meaningless. All it takes is one simple question to prove why: Is there ever a bad time to hire a good money manager?
Sure, there will be better and worse times to invest, given the inherent volatility of the stock market. But giving Buffett and his team your cash to invest for you is likely to be a solid choice no matter what is going on in the broader market or in the economy.
Forget about May 2, focus on the real business
In the end, May 2 is just a random date with little to no meaning. Sure, the company will provide an update on its business performance, which may be good or bad. But the real update will be around the investment decisions Buffett and his team are making on behalf of shareholders. That's the real business of Berkshire Hathaway and why now is as good a time as any to buy the stock.
This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
