Berkshire Hathaway Q4 Earnings, Revenues Miss Estimates, Fall Y/Y

Berkshire Hathaway's BRK.B fourth-quarter 2025 operating earnings of $4.73 per share decreased 27.7% year over year and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.9%.Operating earnings were $19.2 billion, which increased 2.5% year over year. Operating revenues decreased 0.7% year over year to $94.2 billion. The top line missed the consensus estimate by 8.4%.Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Berkshire Hathaway Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Berkshire Hathaway Inc. QuoteFull-Year HighlightsRevenues slightly improved year over year to $371.4 billion, banking on higher revenues at Insurance and Other as well as Railroad, Utilities and Energy.Costs and expenses increased 0.9% year over year to $79.1 billion, largely due to a higher insurance losses and loss adjustment expenses, life, annuity and health insurance benefits and higher underwriting expense, and higher selling, general and administrative expenses and higher leasing cost and interest expense.Segment PerformanceBerkshire Hathaway’s Insurance and Other segment’s operating earnings declined 12.9% year over year to $19.8 billion, owing to lower earnings across groups.Railroad, Utilities, and Energy’s pre-tax earnings increased 7.9% to $9.4 billion due to higher earnings at BHE as well as BNSF. BHE benefited from lower wildfire loss accruals at PacificCorp., lower earnings attributable to non-controlling interests and the impact of real estate brokerage business litigation accruals in 2024, partially offset by lower earnings from the natural gas pipelines and other energy businesses. BNSF benefited from lower operating expenses, attributable to improved operating efficiencies and lower litigation accruals.Earnings from Manufacturing, Service and Retailing businesses rose 4.4% year over year to $13.6 billion, owing to higher earnings increases at manufacturing and services businesses, partially offset by lower earnings from the retailing businesses.Financial PositionAs of Dec. 31, 2025, consolidated shareholders’ equity was $719.7 billion, up 10.4% from the level as of Dec. 31, 2024. At 2025-end, cash and cash equivalents were $51.9 billion, up 8.7% from the level at 2024-end.BRK.B exited 2025 with a float of about $176 billion, up from $171 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024Cash flow from operating activities totaled $46 billion in the first nine months of 2025, up 50.3% from the year-ago period. BRK.B did not repurchase shares in 2025.Zacks RankBRK.B currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Performance of Other InsurersAXIS Capital Holdings Limited AXS reported fourth-quarter 2025 operating income of $3.25 per share, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.4% and rose 9.4% year over year.Total operating revenues of $1.7 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.2%. The top line rose nearly 9% year over year on higher premiums earned. Net premiums written rose 13% to $1.4 billion, with an increase of 14% in the Insurance segment and growth of 5% in the Reinsurance segment.Chubb Limited CB reported fourth-quarter 2025 core operating income of $7.52 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.9%. The bottom line improved 24.9% year over year.Total operating revenues improved 7.4% year over year to $15.3 billion. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.7%. Chubb’s strong performance was driven by solid underwriting profit, robust premium growth and record investment income.RLI Corp. RLI reported fourth-quarter 2025 operating earnings of 94 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 23.6%. The bottom line increased 80.8% from the prior-year quarter. Operating revenues for the reported quarter were $449 million, up 3% year over year. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.4%.Gross premiums written decreased 2.1% year over year to $463.2 million. This can be attributed to the poor performance of the Property Segment. Our estimate was $505.2 million. Net investment income increased 9.2% year over year to $42.3 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was $42.9 million, while our estimate for the metric was pegged at $44.5 million. The investment portfolio’s total return was 1.5% in the quarter.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the months ahead. They includeStock #1: A Disruptive Force with Notable Growth and ResilienceStock #2: Bullish Signs Signaling to Buy the DipStock #3: One of the Most Compelling Investments in the MarketStock #4: Leader In a Red-Hot Industry Poised for GrowthStock #5: Modern Omni-Channel Platform Coiled to SpringMost of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +171%, +209% and +232%.See Our Newest 5 Stocks Set to Double Picks >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report RLI Corp. (RLI): Free Stock Analysis Report Chubb Limited (CB): Free Stock Analysis Report Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B): Free Stock Analysis Report Axis Capital Holdings Limited (AXS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks