Berkshire Hathaway meeting: Check Capital Management CEO shares his thoughts

The annual Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) Shareholder Meeting, a pivotal event in the investment community, is eagerly awaited each year.

Following the 2024 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting on May 4, Steve Check, an investment professional and the CEO of Check Capital Management, spoke with Investing.com to provide his expert insights.

Buffett’s Possible New Value Proposition

When asked about what Berkshire Hathaway’s next potential big bet could be, Check said the deals tend to come out of left field. However, he didn’t rule out the possibility of a next big bet, stating that “there are still some large family-owned businesses that could someday be acquired.”

He highlighted names such as Mars, Chick-fil-A and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, although noting that the odds are low.

“There are still some large publicly traded targets,” added Check. “In either case, price will ultimately drive Berkshire’s decision-making. If they can’t find attractively priced deals, Berkshire will repurchase its own shares or (someday) pay a dividend.”

Despite artificial intelligence being the segment at the forefront of investors' minds Buffett has said previously that he doesn't invest in what he doesn't understand, with AI fitting that definition.

Check isn’t surprised. Despite Buffett being a “learning machine,” he hasn’t historically invested in nascent technologies, although Check added that Berkshire companies, like GEICO, BNSF, etc. are definitely experimenting with and using AI.

One position where Buffett didn’t do too well recently was in Paramount. At the annual meeting, he said they “lost quite a bit of money.”

However, Check considers it a “nonevent,” with an estimated loss of less than 1% of Berkshire’s net worth.

“Also, the loss will help offset taxes owed on the realized Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) gain,” he states. “Buffett has never and will never bat 1.000. Thankfully, to be a very successful investor, you don’t need to be perfect.”

Focusing on Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway selling some shares of the iPhone maker, Check trusts Buffett’s judgment.

“He was smart to buy it, and he was smart to hold it. If he thinks now is the time to sell some shares, it’s probably a smart idea too,” he added. “Apple grew to become a very large percentage of Berkshire’s net worth – approximately 31% – and the valuation seemed more than reasonable at a P/E of 30x.”

Berkshire Hathaway Stock Forecast 2024

In a note late last year, analysts at UBS described Berkshire Hathaway shares as “attractive” in an uncertain economic environment.

In the note, the bank's analysts raised their price target for Berkshire Hathaway class B shares to $414 from $405, adding that they believe the stock trades at around an 11% discount to its intrinsic value. The UBS analysts also raised their price target for Berkshire's Class A shares to $621,591 from $608,000.

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