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Warren Buffett continued to sell stocks in the first three months of 2025 amid a broad market sell-off, according to the latest quarterly earnings from his holding company Berkshire Hathaway.
The figures showing he offloaded stocks for the tenth consecutive quarter come ahead of the investor’s annual meeting with shareholders in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday.
Berkshire’s quarterly report showed that Buffett sold $4.7bn in stocks in the three months to March 31, more than the $3.2bn he purchased.
The sales helped swell Berkshire’s cash pile, which rose to another record of $348bn as money poured in from Buffett’s sprawling business empire, which spans insurance, manufacturing, utilities and one of North America’s biggest railways, along with the interest paid on his portfolio of US Treasuries.
Investors in Omaha will pore over the figures for clues to 94-year-old Buffett’s investment outlook ahead of a question-and-answer session with shareholders on Saturday.
The conversation will be the first time that Buffett weighs in on markets and the economy since US President Donald Trump last month launched a trade war by unveiling plans to slap new tariffs on imports from most other nations.
When Trump shared a social media post on April 4 suggesting that Buffett supported his economic policies, Berkshire put out a statement saying “such reports are false”.
In a March interview with CBS News, Buffett called tariffs “an act of war, to some degree” and said they amounted to a tax on goods. “The tooth fairy doesn’t pay them,” he said.
Changes in net profit at Berkshire largely reflect swings in the value of its $264bn equity portfolio and other investments. In the first quarter, bottom line earnings were $4.6bn, down from $12.7bn in the first quarter last year.
Buffett directs shareholders to pay more attention to operating profit, which was $9.6bn, down from $11.2bn. The decline largely reflected lower insurance underwriting profits.
Berkshire Hathaway shares have been on a tear in 2025, rising 20 per cent to close on Friday at a record $809,808.50 for the “A class” stock. Berkshire once again authorised no share buybacks in the first quarter.
Additional reporting by Eric Platt
