May 2, 2020 - Economy

Berkshire Hathaway didn't buy the coronavirus dip

Axios

A photo of Warren Buffett surrounded by fans — Photo: Johannes Eiselee/AFP/Getty Images

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has $137 billion in cash, up $10 billion from the end of 2019, it reported Saturday. The company reported more than $50 billion in unrealized stock losses, but still had a quarterly operating profit of nearly $6 billion.

Why it matters: "That’s a contrast to the financial crisis in 2008, when his Omaha-based company dipped into its vast cash reserves to gain lucrative preferred shares and rescue businesses teetering on the edge of collapse," Bloomberg notes.

“As efforts to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated in the second half of March and continued through April, most of our businesses were negatively affected, with the effects to date ranging from relatively minor to severe,” the company said in a regulatory filing Saturday.

CNBC: "The Standard & Poor’s 500 slid 20% in the first quarter but there were steeper falls in several large Berkshire holdings including American Express, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and four airlines -- American, Delta, Southwest and United."

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Berkshire Hathaway didn't buy the coronavirus dip

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