Buffett/Berkshire - general news

[LC]

I think LTM earnings were higher than the Q2 runrate - i.e. results can be lumpy and probably tied to oil prices. I think Berkshire got a good deal. 

 

Was Buffett the matchmaker here? Vicky goes on an acquisition spree to consolidate the Permian and sell it to a major, with Buffett backing the shares. Warren gets his cut via oxychem + the carry (preferreds). Vicky gets paid out in a sale, Exxon or whomever gets the asset.

[Green King]

11 hours ago, LC said:

I think LTM earnings were higher than the Q2 runrate - i.e. results can be lumpy and probably tied to oil prices. I think Berkshire got a good deal. 

 

Was Buffett the matchmaker here? Vicky goes on an acquisition spree to consolidate the Permian and sell it to a major, with Buffett backing the shares. Warren gets his cut via oxychem + the carry (preferreds). Vicky gets paid out in a sale, Exxon or whomever gets the asset.

How much do you think it's worth? I always thought Buffett was buying it to make in the long run. Mugner's talk about oil and all. It is also a tech business, so if they figure out new technology, there is still more oil there.

[LC]

@Green King Valuation wise I think it's worth at least 10x earnings. Heavy capex discourages new entrants, demand is relatively stable, and I assume they have low cost feedstock. Buying at 10x trough earnings gives Buffet a solid margin of safety, IMO...tough to lose at this price. Mid cycle oil prices in the high 70s low 80s turn this into a winner. Market multiple doesn't matter now that it's under the Berkshire umbrella but if he were to sell this, I'd imagine it would be at 12-15x mid cycle earnings.

 

And given Berkshire's low cost of financing, tons of cash on the balance sheet, I think this is a good move turning 10B earning 4-5% in treasuries into a stable business earning double that, at least.

Edited October 3, 2025 by LC

[bizaro86]

On 10/2/2025 at 7:48 AM, KPO said:

He’s congenital, but ruthless. A good outcome for Berkshire shareholders. Will be interesting to see if this increases the likelihood of CVX or XOM to acquire OXY now that it’s more of a pure play O&G asset, and with a slightly cleaner leverage profile. 

 

This confused me until I realized you probably meant "congenial"

[KPO]

5 hours ago, bizaro86 said:

 

This confused me until I realized you probably meant "congenial"

lol. Good catch. That’s exactly what I meant. 

[bizaro86]

17 hours ago, KPO said:

lol. Good catch. That’s exactly what I meant. 

 

 My first thought was "the guy is in his 90s, how bad could have a congenital defect have been?1?!?"

[DooDiligence]

I'm probably a little bit behind others here in being impressed by this.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/11/berkshires-japanese-stock-positions-top-30-billion.html

[Spooky]

3 hours ago, DooDiligence said:

I'm probably a little bit behind others here in being impressed by this.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/11/berkshires-japanese-stock-positions-top-30-billion.html

 

A masterclass in capital allocation!

[MungerWunger]

he still got it 

[CassiusKing1]

Hopefully Greg has had a front seat education and will be able to replicate some of this.

[charlieruane]

I can't wait to hear Jain's take on the thorny subject of insuring the AI model builders/hyperscalers at the next annual meeting. Have to imagine Berkshire's underwriting those risks left and right!

[MungerWunger]

Rare interview with one of the three T's:

 

 

[mengan]

On 10/2/2025 at 2:19 PM, Charlie said:

Berkshire Hathaway to pay $9.7 billion for OxyChem, potentially Buffett's last big deal

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/buffetts-berkshire-hathaway-pay-9-112214473.html

 

Cheers!

 

It is a bit like BRK playing chess against itself. No doubt BRK will benefit from this acquisition, but not as clear as if they didn't own all the common.

[73 Reds]

19 hours ago, MungerWunger said:

Rare interview with one of the three T's:

 

 

Thanks for sharing.  It is interesting that she cares so much for the process of business as opposed to any single business entity itself.  Perhaps the difference between starting a business from scratch and acquiring an entity already in existence.    

[Pellom]

Quote

Earlier this month, soon-to-be-CEO Greg Abel spoke to employees from Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance subsidiaries at the Holland Center in Omaha. A Kingswell reader in attendance graciously shared some of the details from the event. The vice chairman, who until now focused on the non-insurance side of the business, took the opportunity to share his own story with the employees he will soon lead — from his start as a chartered accountant in San Francisco to CalEnergy and eventually coming aboard Berkshire as part of MidAmerican Energy. Of particular note, Abel revealed that the CEO of a hyperscaler had recently called to see if Berkshire could build out energy capacity for (presumably) massive-scale data centers and cloud computing needs. He told the unnamed company that he would only entertain the idea as long as it didn’t siphon resources away from existing customers — and that any such deal would require strict terms to justify deploying capital on that scale.

The Berkshire Beat: October 24, 2025 - Kingswell

[LC]

1 hour ago, Pellom said:

Abel revealed that the CEO of a hyperscaler had recently called to see if Berkshire could build out energy capacity for (presumably) massive-scale data centers and cloud computing needs. He told the unnamed company that he would only entertain the idea as long as it didn’t siphon resources away from existing customers — and that any such deal would require strict terms to justify deploying capital on that scale.

 

Someone should ring up Greg and tell him Aecon is building capacity for US energy production (mainly nuclear). 

 

That call should probably come from this gentleman: https://www.aecon.com/our-company/leadership/scott-thon

 

Berkshire has a ton of cash to deploy, Aecon (along with a Buffett favorite: Kiewit) are partnering on similar energy build in Washington state and have the capacity...it could be a good match. 

 

https://newsroom.kiewit.com/uncategorized/energy-northwest-selects-design-builder-for-cascade-advanced-energy-facility-in-washington-state/

[CassiusKing1]

And here comes the wave of bad press on Buffett stepping aside and the downfall of BRK.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/27/berkshire-hathaway-downgraded-to-sell-by-kbw-citing-buffett-succession-many-other-issues.html

[ValueMaven]

'Are they even in the game' -- I am laughing so hard at this.  No mention of OXY deal at all from these clowns. This is epic honestly

 

 

[DooDiligence]

Jim Cramer is the Dr. Phil of investing

That said, I wouldn't mind picking up some more BRK.B sub $450

[John Hjorth]

On 10/24/2025 at 8:57 PM, LC said:

Someone should ring up Greg and tell him Aecon is building capacity for US energy production (mainly nuclear). 

 

That call should probably come from this gentleman: https://www.aecon.com/our-company/leadership/scott-thon

 

Berkshire has a ton of cash to deploy, Aecon (along with a Buffett favorite: Kiewit) are partnering on similar energy build in Washington state and have the capacity...it could be a good match. 

 

https://newsroom.kiewit.com/uncategorized/energy-northwest-selects-design-builder-for-cascade-advanced-energy-facility-in-washington-state/

 

@LC & other CofB&F membes,

 

How and what do you think about that Mr. Buffett appearently has cooled quite a bit on the prospects for the future  of  Berkshire Hathaway Energy, ref. his latest shareholder letters?

 

-Understood as certain states, communities, US legal system screwing Berkshire over on litigation about wildfires, without any compensation for that risk at all in approved, regulated rates of return on invested capital, depriving it a modest, reasonable ROIC for getting that risk stuffed into its throat, as some kind of another foie gras duck, just leaving 'the social contract' with Berkshire behind as if it diden't exist in the first place?

Edited October 27, 2025 by John Hjorth

[LC]

Well, Warren may have cooled on power distribution (not necessarily generation).

But regardless, I'd imagine Greg Abel is in the driver's seat at this point. And given Greg's career centered around energy, he may not be as quick to abandon it. 

[LC]

Also, this is somewhat the bet you make when doing business with governments. When things are quiet, it's great: little competition if any, stable work, decent margins. But at the end of the day the gov't can't allow people to go cold/hungry/etc. and so the contractor is partly on the hook for that. Similar happened with Aecon in Toronto - Metrolinx (gov't transit agency) went after them for all the costs associated with COVID delays and other screw ups. 

[rogermunibond]

First, there seems to be some confusion on what kind of power assets Berkshire owns.  Berkshire owns "regulated" utilities.  They don't own merchant power, or distribution grids (except for in the UK).  So MidAmerican, Nevada Power, PacifiCorp have generation assets and grid/distribution assets.  The disputes currently with regard to wildfire risk are entirely about the investments and work needed to fire-harden distribution assets, and whether the "regulated" utility PacifiCorp can share the costs of this investment with rate-payers.  Buffett seems to be perfectly willing to invest and share the cost, but has told Oregon and California regulators that PacifiCorp won't foot the entire bill.  That seems perfectly reasonable to socialize a safety cost.

[Pellom]

"Berkshire's out of touch" is usually the sign of a market top. We'll see. 

[CassiusKing1]

2 hours ago, Pellom said:

"Berkshire's out of touch" is usually the sign of a market top. We'll see. 

Agreed.  These will bring about a drop in BRK price and buying opportunity.