Berkshire Hathaway’s annual “Woodstock for Capitalists” was held on April 30th. After two years of virtual annual meetings, the energy was high for the return to in-person meetings, but attendance was below recent years.

Berkshire’s quarterly earnings of almost $5.5 billion fell by 53% versus the same quarter in 2021. Operating earnings, which remove the distortion from market changes, rose fractionally by 0.3%. Due to share repurchases, per-share operating income for 1Q increased by 4% versus 2021.