By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:) Inc on Saturday stated fourth-quarter revenue swelled, boosted by positive factors in a lot of its companies and customary inventory investments equivalent to Apple Inc (NASDAQ:), and stated annual earnings reached a report excessive.

Berkshire additionally signaled renewed confidence in its personal inventory, repurchasing $6.9 billion within the quarter, and boosting whole buybacks in 2021 to a report $27 billion. Buffett stated Berkshire has repurchased one other $1.2 billion of inventory in 2022.

In his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders, Buffett stated buybacks make “good sense” when alternate options equivalent to shopping for entire corporations or extra shares seem “unattractive.”

He additionally expressed confidence in Berkshire’s dozens of working companies such because the BNSF railroad and Geico auto insurer, after having gone six years since a serious acquisition and letting Berkshire’s money stake swell to $146.7 billion.

“At this time, inside alternatives ship much better returns than acquisitions,” Buffett wrote.

Quarterly working revenue rose 45% to $7.29 billion, or roughly $4,931 per Class A share, from $5.02 billion a 12 months earlier.

Outcomes benefited from insurance coverage underwriting positive factors, larger revenue from BNSF, and foreign money fluctuations, amongst different elements.

Web revenue rose 11% to $39.65 billion from $35.84 billion, with each totals reflecting giant positive factors from shares equivalent to Apple Inc. Apple alone represents 46% of the $350.7 billion of shares that Berkshire owns.

Analysts on common anticipated working revenue of $4,251 per Class A share, in response to Refinitiv I/B/E/S.

Buffett considers web revenue a deceptive efficiency measure as a result of it consists of positive factors and losses from inventory holdings, no matter what Berkshire buys or sells.

For all of 2021, working revenue rose 25% to $27.46 billion, topping the earlier report $24.78 billion set in 2018, whereas web revenue greater than doubled to $89.8 billion.

Berkshire’s share value rose 30% in 2021, topping the 29% achieve within the together with dividends, and ending two years of serious underperformance relative to that index. They’re additionally outperforming in 2022.