Berkshire CEO Abel to Make Rare TV Appearance. What He Might Talk About.

Dow Jones
3 hours ago

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel plans to give a TV interview Wednesday and could use the appearance to talk about any number of corporate developments, including Berkshire's stock repurchase plan.

Abel, who rarely gives interviews, will appear on CNBC on Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. ET.

The last time Abel appeared on the network, on March 5, he discussed Berkshire's move, announced that day in a securities filing, to restart repurchases of company stock for the first time since May 2024.

Abel does little talking to the media and he refuses to hold conference calls or offer commentary after Berkshire's quarterly earnings reports, so it's notable he's planned a TV interview. Could Berkshire be announcing a notable acquisition or some other development?

In his inaugural shareholder letter in February, Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett as Berkshire CEO at year-end, wrote: "We concentrate on quality, not frequency. If a significant issue arises, you will hear from me, but it will not be through quarterly commentary, given our long-term horizon."

In the Wednesday interview, Abel could talk about trends at Berkshire's key units including insurance, the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway Energy (its big utility) and industrial businesses.

Berkshire's huge property and casualty business is seeing some pricing pressure as are other insurers, while the industrial businesses like Precision Castparts are benefiting from stronger demand and the data center buildout.

Abel could be asked about improving trends at BNSF and progress on his goal to narrow the performance gap versus its chief rival, Union Pacific, and his view on wildfire risk at Berkshire's Western utilities.

Abel could discuss Berkshire's stepped up stock repurchases-the company bought back a total of almost $8 billion of stock in the first quarter and in July-and the outlook for capital returns to holders, including potentially paying a dividend.

Berkshire also appears to be less focused on new stock investments to create value for shareholders.

Abel could be asked if he has made any stock purchases for Berkshire this year. Barron's doesn't believe he has done anything notable. The Berkshire equity moves in its $350 billion-plus portfolio probably have been done by Buffett (the Alphabet stock purchase0 and manager Ted Weschler (who appears to have bought a new stake this year in Delta Air Lines).

There has been some speculation that Berkshire will open up more to the financial community and the Abel interview could be part of such a potential new trend.

Berkshire doesn't meet with institutional investors and doesn't talk to Wall Street equity analysts. This reflects Buffett's philosophy that all holders should have equal access to information.

Buffett also feels that corporate managements spend too much time courting Wall Street-time that could be better used to focus on their businesses.

Abel gave a rundown of Berkshire's major operating businesses and took shareholder questions at the company's annual meeting in May.

But if Abel does use the CNBC interview to talk about various Berkshire matters, the question is why not do it on a formal conference call.

 

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