Not in Omaha? Here's a Berkshire meeting recap
I spoke with longtime Warren Buffett follower Bill Stone of The Glenview Trust to get his thoughts on the big Berkshire Hathaway shareholder event.
I didn’t head to Nebraska for the annual Buffettpalooza this past weekend. But luckily for me (and you) Bill Stone, chief investment officer of The Glenview Trust Company, made the trek from Louisville to Omaha. I spoke to Stone, whose firm owns a stake in Berkshire Hathaway, this morning to get his thoughts on the shareholder meeting.
Stone said that the meeting was an “absolute zoo,” with a lot of shareholders coming to hear the wisdom of 92-year-old Warren Buffett and 99-year-old Berkshire vice chairman Charlie Munger for the first time.
Buffett and Munger took questions from some shareholders about why Berkshire Hathaway, which has more than $130 billion in cash, isn’t using its cash to pay a dividend. Many of the stocks in Berkshire’s portfolio, such as top holding Apple, do pay dividends.
But Stone said Buffett continued to stress that Berkshire is better off using cash for investments and buying back its own stock instead of doling out quarterly dividend checks.
Stone said he was pleased that Buffett, Munger and fellow Berkshire vice chairs Ajit Jain, who runs the insurance business, and eventual Buffett successor as Berkshire CEO Greg Abel, who oversees everything else at Berkshire (think energy, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and consumer units), took more questions this year about Berkshire’s operating subsidiaries and not just its stock portfolio.
“For me, you don’t often hear enough about Berkshire the business,” Stone told me, saying that the meeting has in the past focused more on big Berkshire investments and thoughts on the economy as well as the financial headlines of the day.
Stone also said it was good to hear candid remarks from Jain about how the Geico unit might be the biggest challenge for Berkshire right now.
Stone added that it was also very interesting to hear that Buffett said Apple is “a better business than any we own.” Stone noted that Buffett, who has famously shied away from investing in tech in the past, noted that he considers Apple to be more of a consumer company than a technology firm. And Berkshire, who owns a huge stake in Coca-Cola and also operates Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom, understands the consumer business.
Most investors seemed pleased with what they heard from Buffett and Munger. Shares of the Berkshire A class of stock, which doesn’t split, were up more than 1% Monday to a little less than $500,000 and not far from a 52-week high. For those that don’t have a half a million to spend on one share, luckily the more affordable class B stock currently trades for only a little under $330.