(Bloomberg) — Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s stock sailed through a turbulent trading session Thursday, falling only slightly while indexes across the globe plummeted on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plans.
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Shares of Warren Buffett’s conglomerate outperformed the broader market, as its Class B stock slid 1.4%. That made it a haven relative to the S&P 500, which tumbled 5%, erasing $2 trillion of market value.
“Berkshire’s performance has been a rock in the tariff storm,” Christopher Davis of Hudson Value Partners said. “On days like today, one-third of the market cap in T-Bills is a good feeling.”
The stability partly reflects the relative insulation of the insurance sector — one of Berkshire’s main sources of earnings — to global trade. The KBW Insurance Index fell 2.7% Thursday. Progressive Corp., a direct competitor to Berkshire’s Geico, gained 2% and was the top performer in the index.
“Insurers also have pricing power — so the cost increases brought on by tariff-induced inflation in auto-repair costs and homebuilding expenses will be passed along to consumers,” said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA.
Still, major Berkshire holdings including Bank of America Corp., Chevron Corp. and American Express Co. fell Thursday. With more than $300 billion wiped off the market value of Apple Inc. alone, Buffett’s decision to slash his stake in the iPhone maker last year appears prescient.
Tumbling markets also gave rise to speculation that Buffett could take advantage of the situation to make big purchases. In recent quarters, the 94-year old billionaire refrained from major trades, instead building a cash hoard to a record $334.2 billion at end 2024.
“There is always an expectation in a selloff that we might see a big purchase or use of the cash,” Davis said.
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