By Jonathan Stempel
OMAHA, Nebraska, May 2 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday reported a higher first-quarter operating profit, aided by gains in insurance and its other major operating segments.
Profit from the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate's dozens of businesses rose 18% to $11.35 billion, or about $7,891 per Class A share, from $9.64 billion a year earlier.
Net income, including from common stock investments, more than doubled to $10.1 billion, or $7,027 per Class A share, from $4.6 billion.
Berkshire downplays the significance of net income, which because of accounting rules includes unrealized gains and losses on stocks it has no plans to sell.
Berkshire said it repurchased $234 million of its own stock in the quarter, its first buybacks since May 2024. It did not buy back stock in the first two weeks of April.
Berkshire's cash stake ended March at a record $397.4 billion.
That reflected the company's years-long inability to find a major acquisition, as well as sales of some of its largest stock holdings led by Apple.
It also sold $8.1 billion more stocks than it bought in the first quarter, the 14th straight quarter it was a net seller of stocks.
Berkshire did pay $9.5 billion in January for Occidental Petroleum's chemicals business.
The quarter was the first under the helm of Greg Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett in January as Berkshire's chief executive. Buffett remains chairman.
The results were released prior to Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting, which draws tens of thousands of people to Omaha.
Berkshire shares have significantly lagged the broader market since Buffett unexpectedly announced at last year's meeting that he was handing the reins to Abel.
In 2026, Berkshire Class A shares have fallen 6%, while the Standard & Poor's 500 is up 6%.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Nebraska, editing by Colin Barr)
