Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to Report Saturday

Annual shareholder letter also set for release with investor focus likely on shareholder buybacks.

Author:: Tom Bemis
Publish date:: Feb 26, 2021 2:17 PM EST

The investing world will turn its eyes towards Omaha, Neb. on Saturday as Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reports fourth-quarter earnings and releases its annual letter to shareholders.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B) - Get Report is expected to report earnings of $2.28 per B Class share, on sales of $64.7 billion Saturday, based on a FactSet survey.

In the same period a year ago, the company posted earnings of $1.81 a share on sales of $65.3 billion. It reported net income of $16.5 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway is expected to report earnings of $3,413.01 per Class A share (BRK.A) - Get Report, vs. $2,713.99 a share a year ago. Class A shares have outsized voting rights compared with class B shares.

Among key issues of interest in the shareholder letter will be any commentary from Buffett on share buybacks. Berkshire had bought back more than $15 billion of its shares through the third quarter, of 2020 as the stock has lagged far behind the S&P 500's gains over the past two years.

Both classes of stock have risen about 17% since the company last reported earnings on Nov. 7.

Berkshire sold some of its stakes in Apple (AAPL) - Get Report and Wells Fargo (WFC) - Get Report in the last quarter, while boosting holdings in Verizon (VZ) - Get Report and Chevron (CVX) - Get Report according to a recent SEC filing.

Berkshire Vice-Chariman Charlie Munger earlier this week criticized Robinhood and other brokerages targeting young and inexperienced investors, many of whom have been caught up in the mania over Gamestop (GME) - Get Report and other so-called meme stocks.

Mugner said the companies are really supplying “gambling services” and make money in a “dirty way,” according to a Bloomberg report.

TheStreet's Jim Cramer said Munger "really trashed Robinhood," adding that he thought the remarks were "ill-advised."

Cramer and his Action Alerts Plus team are looking at everything from earnings to the Federal Reserve. Find out what they're telling their investment club members and get in on the conversation with a free trial subscription to Action Alerts Plus.