Once again, it's all about the cash.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Saturday morning will release its annual report. But the main event, as usual, will be Chairman and Chief Executive Warren Buffett's annual investor letter, in which he typically expounds on Berkshire's performance along with anecdotes and vignettes about investing and life.

Berkshire's cash pile stood at more than $300 billion, a record, as of the end of its third quarter. Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA, expects Saturday's annual report to show it at around $320 billion.

"Perhaps one of the most highly analyzed aspects of the Berkshire model is its acquisition strategy. The focus on acquisitions (or lack thereof) has seemingly increased along with Berkshire's level of 'dry powder,'" Seifert said in a note.

This may sound familiar. After all, investors a year ago were similarly focused on a Berkshire cash hoard that has only continued to grow. Investors have grown only more nervous, wondering if the pile of cash reflects a tacit fear of a market fall.

Yet there doesn't appear to be a clear-cut signal for the broader market from Berkshire's cash holdings.

For his part, Buffett has emphasized that while Berkshire remains on the hunt for ways to deploy cash, it's been hard to find attractive opportunities. At last year's Berkshire annual meeting in May, he reiterated that the company doesn't make deals for the sake of making deals and that he was more comfortable sitting on cash with interest rates at 5% - though he noted Berkshire had been willing to sit when rates were low as well.

"We only swing at pitches we like," he said.

Seifert noted that while Berkshire has published a list of acquisition criteria, the company has repeatedly claimed not to have a set acquisition strategy.

Berkshire's Class A shares $(BRK.A)$ are up around 5.8% so far in 2025 and its Class B shares $(BRK.B)$ are up 6%, versus a 2.5% rise for the S&P 500 SPX.

What else do investors want to hear about? Seifert offered some other potential highlights:

Equity portfolio

Berkshire's latest 13-F filing reflected some modest sales andpurchases in its $267 billion (as of Dec. 31) equity portfolio, with the firm being a net seller of about $6 billion worth of equities in the final quarter of 2024, Seifert noted. The most notable purchase was around $1 billion of Constellation Brands Inc. shares $(STZ)$, while Berkshire reduced its holdings of bank stocks.

Investors will parse Berkshire's moves and any takeaways offered by the chairman "very carefully, particularly given Berkshire's growing cash pile and the fact that we believe Buffett is still responsible for the majority of investment decisions," she said.

Age and succession

Buffett will turn 95 in August.

"We think Berkshire has adequately addressed succession issues with Greg Abel's ascension to the role of vice chairman of noninsuranceoperations (and Buffett heir apparent)," Seifert said Ajit Jain, who heads up insurance operations, has a crucial role but is rumored to be stepping down in the next few years.

"Against that backdrop, we believe investors would be well served to be better acquainted with the broader managerial bench at Berkshire," she said.

Tone

The letter comes during a period of heightened uncertainty for investors as they assess the potential for trade wars, U.S. fiscal policy and geopolitical turmoil. The tone of the letter is usually "fairly benign," Seifert noted, with Buffett typically sticking to the year's results and often some sort of "folksy parable."

But there have been exceptions - including after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 2007-2009 financial crisis - when Buffett has commented on macroeconomic events.

"Given the degree to which macro events could impact Berkshire's business prospects, he might do so this year," Seifert said.