Berkshire shares trade higher as Buffett successor Abel scores good marks at meeting, earnings jump

Berkshire Hathaway Shares rose in premarket trading Monday after CEO Greg Abel led the annual meeting for the first time over the weekend and the conglomerate’s earnings jumped.

The group’s Class B shares gained 0.5% after Warren Buffett’s hand-picked successor received a positive reception at the Berkshire Hathaway meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday. Many in the investment community acknowledged that Buffett’s signature wit and storytelling had been lost, but confidence was also restored by the demonstration of Abel’s firm grip on Berkshire’s sprawling enterprise, as well as his insights into the conglomerate’s future direction.

Berkshire Hathaway first quarter report A release early Saturday showed a solid 18% increase in the conglomerate’s operating earnings compared to the previous year. These gains were largely driven by underwriting, which increased 28.5% to nearly $1.7 billion. It also showed that the conglomerate was sitting on a cash pile of close to $400 billion.

One of the main themes Abel covered in Saturday’s morning and afternoon sessions was artificial intelligence; It’s a topic shareholders were eager to hear more about ahead of the event. The CEO stated that Berkshire would not do “AI for AI’s sake”; This is a measured stance from other company executives racing to integrate the technology. At one point in the morning, Abel answered a question from a deepfake version of Buffett, which he then turned into a discussion of cybersecurity risks around artificial intelligence.

The CEO was joined at the event by other members of the leadership team, including Ajit Jain, vice president of insurance operations; Adam Johnson, president of Berkshire’s consumer products, services and retail businesses; and BNSF Railroad CEO Katie Farmer. Abel guided shareholders on efforts to improve its railroad and insurance businesses, and the involvement of Berkshire’s other executives reassured investors.

Abel also added that he does not expect Berkshire to ever break up or divest its subsidiaries.

“We are a conglomerate, but we are an efficient conglomerate,” Abel said. “We don’t have layers of management.”

Other highlights from the event include remarks from chairman Buffett to the audience. Earlier in the meeting, Abel commemorated Buffett’s long tenure at Berkshire by hoisting a jersey into the rafters of the CHI Health Center, where the event is held annually.

Halfway through the event, Buffett said in an exclusive interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick that the current investing environment is “not ideal.”

Read all the highlights of the meeting here.

— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Yun Li and Christina Cheddar Berk contributed to this report.