--- title: "After taking over from Buffett, Abel's first shareholder letter failed to boost market confidence, and Berkshire (BRK., BRK. stock price is under pressure" type: "News" locale: "zh-CN" url: "https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/277528565.md" description: "Berkshire (BRK., BRK.) reported a significant drop in stock price after announcing its fourth-quarter earnings and CEO Abel's first shareholder letter, with Class A shares falling approximately 4.9% to $720,000 and Class B shares down 4.91% to $480.17. The financial report showed a 30% year-on-year decline in operating profit, with insurance underwriting profit plummeting over 50%. KBW analysts downgraded their earnings forecasts for 2026 and 2027 and maintained an \"underperform\" rating. Abel did not propose any buyback or dividend plans, leading to a lukewarm market reaction" datetime: "2026-03-02T22:40:03.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/277528565.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/277528565.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/277528565.md) --- > 支持的语言: [English](https://longbridge.com/en/news/277528565.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/277528565.md) # After taking over from Buffett, Abel's first shareholder letter failed to boost market confidence, and Berkshire (BRK., BRK. stock price is under pressure According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A.US, BRK.B.US) saw its stock price drop significantly on Monday after announcing its fourth-quarter earnings and the first letter to shareholders from CEO Abel. Class A shares of Berkshire fell about 4.9% to $720,000, while Class B shares dropped 4.91% to $480.17. The financial report showed that the company's operating profit in the fourth quarter declined by 30% year-on-year. Even after excluding exchange rate fluctuations and certain goodwill impairments, the adjusted operating profit still fell by nearly 20%. Notably, the underwriting profit from insurance plummeted by over 50% year-on-year, and the company hinted that the environment for its core property and casualty insurance business is becoming more challenging. As a result of the performance, KBW analyst Meyer Shields downgraded the earnings forecasts for 2026 and 2027 to $30,610 and $32,290 per Class A share, respectively, a reduction of about 5% and 4% from previous expectations, while maintaining an "underperform" rating and a target price of $695,000. Although Abel candidly discussed the company's main operating businesses in the shareholder letter and promised to continue the corporate culture established by Buffett over the past 60 years, there was no change in capital allocation policy. The company has not conducted any stock buybacks since May 2024, and there were also no buybacks in the fourth quarter of 2025 and January 2026. Abel also stated that there are currently no plans for dividends. This means that Berkshire's record cash reserves of $373 billion may continue to grow unless the stock price significantly declines or major acquisition opportunities arise. Earlier this January, the company spent about $9.5 billion to acquire the chemical business of Occidental Petroleum. Regarding dividends, Abel stated that retaining earnings creates more long-term value for shareholders compared to distributing dividends. Some investors had hoped that the new CEO would be more proactive in returning value to shareholders, such as proposing a $50 billion share buyback plan, but no such measures have materialized. Currently, about $127 billion in cash is held at the parent company, which can be used more flexibly for buybacks or dividends, while most of the remaining cash is held in insurance subsidiaries, which are subject to greater regulatory constraints. Additionally, the $1.6 billion goodwill impairment in the fourth-quarter financial report was not explicitly disclosed in the press release but was hidden in the appendix of the 10-K report, causing confusion among some investors. Abel did not hold a conference call regarding the financial report and stated that he would continue Buffett's tradition of "not holding quarterly earnings calls," believing that this aligns better with the company's long-term investment philosophy. Analysts pointed out that in the context of weak revenue growth, lackluster profit prospects, and ineffective allocation of substantial cash, Berkshire may find it difficult to achieve a higher market premium in the short term. According to current market expectations, the company's operating profit is likely to see almost no growth this year ### 相关股票 - [Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A.US)](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/quote/BRK.A.US.md) - [Berkshire Hathaway B (BRK.B.US)](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/quote/BRK.B.US.md) - [Direxion Daily BRKB Bear 1X Shares (BRKD.US)](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/quote/BRKD.US.md) - [Direxion Daily BRKB Bull 2X Shares (BRKU.US)](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/quote/BRKU.US.md) - [XL2CSOPBRKB (07777.HK)](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/quote/07777.HK.md) ## 相关资讯与研究 - [Is Berkshire Hathaway Stock a Buy Right Now?](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/280032286.md) - [Nervous About the Oil Crisis? 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