For the first time in 60 years, Warren Buffett will not be the main attraction at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.‘s (NYSE:BRK) (NYSE:BRK) annual meeting. As new CEO Greg Abel takes the reins this weekend, he faces mounting pressure to address a historic $373 billion cash pile and a lagging stock.
The Post-Buffett Reality
While thousands of investors are making the pilgrimage to Omaha for its annual shareholders meeting, the mood is noticeably different. Berkshire shares have severely underperformed since Buffett unexpectedly announced his departure last year on May 3.
Largely on a year-over-year basis, BRK’s stock fell 11.19%, while the S&P 500 was up 29.5% in the same period.
Some investors may want to see Greg “prove himself in his job” before they decide to buy more, Lawrence Cunningham, a University of Delaware governance professor, told Reuters. Cunningham was confident, but the market is “expressing caution.”
After pausing the repurchase program since May 2024, Abel resumed stock buybacks in March—Berkshire’s first since May 2024.
…
This post was originally published here
