Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

What they do

Berkshire owns subsidiaries across insurance conducted on both a primary and reinsurance basis, freight rail transportation, and utility and energy generation and distribution, plus numerous manufacturing, service and retailing businesses. Operating subsidiaries are managed on an unusually decentralized basis, with the CEO responsible for significant capital allocation, investment activities and evaluating operating performance. The company employed approximately 387,800 people worldwide at the end of 2025, about 80% of them in the U.S., with 19% represented by unions.

Revenue drivers

• Insurance underwriting — After-tax earnings of $7.3B in 2025, $9.0B in 2024 and $5.4B in 2023; 2025 declined across all underwriting groups, with catastrophe losses of approximately $850M after tax in 2025.
• Insurance investment income — After-tax income of $12.5B in 2025 (down 8.5% from $13.7B in 2024) and $9.6B in 2023, driven by interest and dividend income on the investment portfolio.
• BNSF — Freight rail after-tax earnings of $5.5B in 2025, up 8.8%, versus $5.0B in 2024 and $5.1B in 2023, with 2025 gains from lower operating expenses and improved efficiencies.
• Manufacturing, service and retailing — After-tax earnings of $13.6B in 2025, up 4.4% from $13.1B in 2024; the industrial products group alone posted $23.3B of revenue in the first six months of 2026, up 25.5% year over year.

Recent performance

Second quarter 2026 revenue was $70.11B, up from $63.14B in the first quarter of 2026 and $62.73B in the fourth quarter of 2025. Full-year 2025 revenue was $247.24B with net income attributable to Berkshire shareholders of $66.97B, versus $249.71B and $89.00B in 2024. Full-year 2025 results included $30.74B of investment gains and an $8.26B other-than-temporary impairment on investments in Kraft Heinz and Occidental. Insurance underwriting fell to $7.3B after tax in 2025 from $9.0B in 2024, while BNSF rose 8.8% to $5.5B and BHE rose 6.7% to $4.0B. At June 30, 2026, total assets were $1.26T and shareholders' equity was $747.91B.

Strategy

Berkshire retains a decentralized structure with few centralized or integrated business functions, leaving capital allocation and investment decisions with the CEO. The company has been acquisitive in manufacturing: it acquired Bell Laboratories (rodent control) in August 2025 and OxyChem from Occidental Petroleum on January 2, 2026, with OxyChem results consolidated from the acquisition date. It also reallocated operations internally, moving Acme Brick from the building products group to Marmon effective January 1, 2026. In insurance, MD&A notes underwriting earnings may decline from competition and rising claim cost trends, and that 2025 investment income was affected by large capital distributions to Berkshire at the end of 2024.

Risks

• Underwriting margin pressure — Insurance underwriting earnings fell to $7.3B in 2025 from $9.0B in 2024, and MD&A cites ongoing industry competition and rising claim cost trends that may reduce future earnings.
• Catastrophe exposure — After-tax losses from significant catastrophe events were approximately $850M in 2025, $1.2B in 2024 and $725M in 2023.
• Investment results volatility — Investment gains and losses, including unrealized gains from changes in equity market prices and foreign currency rates, swing reported net earnings and are described in MD&A as generally meaningless in understanding periodic results.
• Trade policy and input costs — MD&A states considerable uncertainty remains over international trade policies and tariffs, with possible adverse effects on product availability, supply chain costs, customer demand and equity investments.

Outlook

Management states it cannot reliably predict the ultimate impact of macroeconomic and geopolitical events, including international trade policies and tariffs, on its businesses or investments. MD&A warns underwriting earnings may decline from industry competition and rising claim cost trends, even though recent underwriting results were exceptional versus longer periods. At PCC, future sales and earnings growth will depend on increasing production and expanding capacity to meet customer demand. For BHE, the 2025 earnings increase reflected lower wildfire loss accruals at PacifiCorp and reduced earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests.