Berkshire (BRK.B) Q4 Earnings Miss on Poor Segmental Results
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.B delivered fourth-quarter 2019 earnings of $4.4 billion, down 22.7% year over year.
Operating earnings of $24 billion decreased 3.2% year over year.
The company witnessed soft performance at the Railroad, Utilities and Energy segment and higher expenses.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Quote
Behind the Headlines
Revenues increased 2.7% year over year to $254.6 billion.
Costs and expenses inched up 2.9% year over year to $225.7 billion.
Segment Results
Berkshire Hathaway’s Insurance and Other segment revenues increased 3.4% year over year to $211.1 billion on the back of higher insurance premiums earned, increase in sales and service revenues, leasing revenues and Interest, dividend and other investment income. This segment’s net earnings were $5.8 billion, down 4.3% year over year.
Railroad, Utilities and Energy operating revenues declined 0.5% year over year to $43.4 billion due to lower revenues from freight rail transportation, energy operations and lower service revenues and other income. Net earnings of $8.3 billion were up 6.1% year over year.
Total revenues at Manufacturing, Service and Retailing rose 1.3% year over year to $142.7 billion. Net earnings grew 0.1% year over year to $9.4 billion.
Financial Position
As of Dec 31, 2019, consolidated shareholders’ equity was $424.8 billion, up 21.8% from the level as of Dec 31, 2018. At 2019 end, cash and cash equivalents were $64.2 billion, up 111% from the level at 2018 end.
The company exited 2019 with a float of about $129 billion, up $6 billion from the figure at year-end 2018.
Cash flow from operating activities totaled $38.7 billion in 2019, declining nearly 3.4% from 2018.
Zacks Rank
Berkshire Hathaway currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Other Insurance Releases
Among other players from the insurance industry that have reported fourth-quarter earnings so far, the bottom line of Brown & Brown, Inc. BRO and RLI Corp. RLI beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate while that of Principal Financial PFG matched the same.
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