By Karen Langley

OMAHA, Neb. -- For those waiting months for Warren Buffett to weigh in on matters affecting his company, the markets and the global economy, the final countdown is under way.

Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, will take the stage at 8 a.m. central time in Omaha, home to his conglomerate and the site of Saturday's annual meeting. Flanked at times by his successor-in-waiting, Greg Abel, and the executive who runs Berkshire's insurance business, Ajit Jain, Buffett will answer shareholders' questions until 1 p.m.

There is much to discuss. This year's meeting comes at a tumultuous moment for the markets and the global business world. President Trump's trade war has dominated the headlines, and investors are eager to hear Buffett's views on his policies. But there are other subjects that have stoked their curiosity, too, including his thoughts on Berkshire's stake in Apple and its massive cash trove.

James Sinanis, a shareholder from Raleigh, N.C., who works for a home-building company, said he wants to hear how Buffett thinks tariffs will affect the economy.

"More than anyone else in the financial world, Warren Buffett can take complex issues and simplify it into ways that most people can understand and that are more accurate than just about anyone," Sinanis said. "His opinion means a great deal to me."

At past meetings, Berkshire stock owners have pressed Buffett for his opinions on everything from broad economic trends and general investment advice to highly specific reviews on Berkshire's portfolio of businesses and stockholdings. A question asking if Buffett saw similarities between the current stock market and the lead-up to the dot-com crash might be followed by one asking about profit margins at Berkshire's BNSF Railway.

Shareholders and fans lined up early Saturday morning to ensure their seat in the arena before the legendary stock picker speaks. A day earlier, long lines wound around the front of Omaha's CHI Health Center, located near the Missouri River, as visitors and locals waited to pick up their meeting credentials and enter a shopping exhibit.

Inside they perused products and swag from Berkshire subsidiary companies: Justin cowboy boots, plush geckos from insurer Geico, Berkshire-branded shoes from Brooks Running, icy Dairy Queen treats going for as little as $1. They lined up to examine a mock NetJets aircraft as well as a Clayton home that had been built in Minnesota and then driven to Omaha before being reassembled.

Shoppers at Oriental Trading could snap up memorabilia including a Buffett bobblehead and rubber ducks styled as Buffett and Charlie Munger, Buffett's friend and partner who died in 2023.

Visitors spoke of their admiration and affection for the two men. Elizabeth Rosen and Bill Craft, retirees from Fayetteville, Ark., had followed Berkshire from afar. After Munger's death, they decided to travel to Omaha to check out the scene and to see Buffett, who is 94 years old.

"They are icons," Rosen said. "It may never be the same once Warren is gone."

Saturday kicked off with the release of Berkshire's results for the first quarter. The company reported net income of $4.6 billion, or $3,200 a Class A share equivalent. That was down from $12.7 billion, or $8,825 a Class A share equivalent, a year earlier.

Operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, fell to $9.64 billion from $11.22 billion last year.

Buffett emphasizes operating earnings as a gauge of Berkshire's performance, because unrealized gains and losses in the company's investment portfolio can drive big swings in its quarterly net income.

Berkshire's trove of cash and Treasury bills rose to a record $333 billion, after accounting for a payable for purchasing some of the short-term government debt, from $321 billion at the end of last year.

In his annual letter in February, Buffett played down the growth in cash, saying that most of shareholders' money was in equities when Berkshire's subsidiary companies were counted along with its stock portfolio.

Berkshire's Class A and B shares have climbed 19% this year, compared with a 3.3% drop in the S&P 500.

Write to Karen Langley at karen.langley@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 03, 2025 08:27 ET (12:27 GMT)

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