By Karen Langley

Warren Buffett says Berkshire Hathaway still prefers owning businesses.

Berkshire's chairman and chief executive told shareholders in his annual letter Saturday that while the company's ownership of stocks declined last year, the value of the operating businesses it owns increased. Berkshire runs a range of subsidiaries in industries from rail to utilities to insurance.

A recent buildup in the Omaha, Neb., conglomerate's mountain of cash and Treasury bills has drawn attention among investors. Berkshire ended 2024 with $321.4 billion in cash and Treasury bills, after accounting for a payable it recorded for buying the short-term government debt. That marked a new record and a 3.6% increase from three months earlier.

"Despite what some commentators currently view as an extraordinary cash position at Berkshire, the great majority of your money remains in equities," Buffett wrote. "That preference won't change."

Buffett said Berkshire's ownership of "marketable equities" declined last year. But the famed stock picker offered assurance that the company hasn't changed its investment approach.

"Berkshire shareholders can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities -- mostly American equities although many of these will have international operations of significance," he wrote. "Berkshire will never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned."

Berkshire also released its results for 2024, reporting a profit of $89 billion, down from $96.2 billion in 2023. The company's operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, rose to $47.4 billion.

Buffett encourages shareholders to pay attention to operating earnings. Berkshire's net income includes unrealized gains and losses from its stock investments, causing the bottom-line earnings figure to fluctuate when markets are volatile.

Its stock has risen to start the year, with both Class A and Class B shares up about 5.6%, compared with the S&P 500's 2.2% gain. Both Berkshire share classes closed at records this week.

Write to Karen Langley at karen.langley@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 22, 2025 09:05 ET (14:05 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.