Greg Abel earns solid scorecard from Berkshire shareholders after first annual meeting

OMAHA, Nebraska — In his debut running Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, Greg Abel delivered what many shareholders came to see: a steady hand, a firm grasp of the sprawling conglomerate and just enough of his own style to reassure investors the post-Warren Buffett era is on solid footing.

The reviews from longtime shareholders and professional investors were broadly positive, even as many acknowledged the notable absence of Buffett, whose wit, storytelling and investing acumen have long defined the event.

"Very solid. No misspoke words. Thorough answers," said Steve Check, founder of Check Capital Management. "Nice guy, but we sure don't have the laughs that we had with Warren and Charlie [Munger]."

"Greg and company delivered on content, examination of businesses and confidence in outlook," Macrae Sykes, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds.

David Kass, a finance professor at University of Maryland and a decades-long Berkshire shareholder, said he grew more confident in Berkshire after seeing firsthand Abel's performance. He pointed to the firm's "deep bench" — including executives like vice chairman of Berkshire's insurance operations Ajit Jain; Adam Johnson, president of Berkshire's consumer products, service and retailing businesses; and BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer — as evidence that leadership continuity runs well beyond a single figure.

"Greg demonstrated the knowledge of and passion for running all of Berkshire's businesses," Kass said. "His main focus is that of operations. By contrast, Buffett focuses more on the investment side of Berkshire."

Granular insights

That shift in emphasis was evident throughout the Q&A session, where Abel leaned into detailed discussions of Berkshire's subsidiaries, a level of specificity that resonated with shareholders seeking reassurance about execution under new leadership.

"The answers were really good as they gave granular insights," said Tilman Versch, a German shareholder and founder of investor community Good Investing. "Everybody misses Warren. His clear, consistent and funny answers are hard to replace. But with more practice, I hope Greg can find his own style."

Abel opened the session with a near hourlong presentation walking investors through the inner workings of Berkshire's major businesses. He drilled into performance and outlook across its railroad unit, energy operations, insurance arm and retail subsidiaries, offering a level of operational detail that shareholders said felt more akin to an investor day than the freewheeling, anecdote-driven format of past meetings.

Leaning into tech

Artificial intelligence emerged as a central theme at the meeting. Abel said Berkshire is already exploring AI-driven tools to improve operations at BNSF Railway, and spoke fluently about technologies like large language models, emphasizing their potential to enhance the company's existing businesses.

He also pointed to the surge in data center development as a major tailwind for Berkshire's utility operations, with rising power demand creating a significant growth opportunity for its energy grid assets.

"He was clearly very comfortable with technology and AI, as opposed to Warren, who typically avoided technology-oriented investments outside of Apple and, more recently, Google," said Adam Patti, chief executive of VistaShares and manager of an ETF tracking Berkshire's largest holdings. "Perhaps that lends insight into how the portfolio may evolve over time."

Buyback disappointment

Berkshire's pace of share repurchases was a point of frustration for some shareholders.

The firm repurchased $235 million of stock in the first quarter, according to the earnings report. The company had already disclosed that it purchased $226 million in stock on March 4, so this means it only slightly increased its buying as the quarter came to a close.

"The only missing piece was any real guidance on additional buybacks," Patti said. "I was hoping that they would get more aggressive about this."

"I'm disappointed in the lack of significant buybacks," Check said. "I guess they're waiting for a lower price, but they bought much more at this valuation before." 

The crowd may still be adjusting to a Berkshire meeting without Buffett at center stage. But after this first outing, investors appear increasingly willing to give Abel the room and time to define the next chapter on his own terms.

"They really incorporated more of the businesses than they ever have because it used to always just be Warren answering Warren questions," said Susan Chan, a longtime shareholder who along with her friend Wanda Lee decided to skip the meeting this year. They watched it from Chan's home in New Jersey instead, and found that the new format instilled confidence in Berkshire's future direction. "And now, it's really more of a 'Our shareholders are our family. And we're going to show you exactly what we're invested in, and what we're doing.'"

"We made the conscious decision not to go this year," Chan said. "But we just said to each other, 'Let's go next year.'"