Berkshire Hathaway reported a decrease in net earnings attributable to shareholders, falling to $4.60 billion in Q1 2025 from $12.70 billion in Q1 2024. After-tax operating earnings also declined by 14.1% to $9.64 billion from $11.22 billion in the prior year's first quarter.
The decline in operating earnings was largely driven by a significant drop in insurance underwriting earnings, which fell to $1.34 billion after-tax from $2.60 billion. This was primarily due to approximately $860 million in after-tax losses from Southern California wildfires and less favorable prior-year development in certain insurance lines.
Despite the headwinds in insurance underwriting, the company's insurance investment income saw a healthy increase of $295 million after-tax. Non-insurance segments showed strength, with BNSF reporting a 6.2% increase in after-tax earnings to $1.21 billion and Berkshire Hathaway Energy's after-tax earnings surging 53% to $1.10 billion. The company's cash, cash equivalents, and U.S. Treasury Bills reached $328 billion by March 31, 2025, and no share repurchases were made in the quarter.
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