UBS: Berkshire Hathaway shares 'attractive' in an uncertain economic environment

Investing.com -- Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKb) shares represent an attractive play in an uncertain macro environment, analysts at UBS said Monday, following the release of second quarter results from Warren Buffett's massive conglomerate.

In a note to clients, the 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 (NYSE:BRKa) shares to $621,591 from $608,000.

The announcement comes after Berkshire reported a 6.6% increase in operating earnings to $10.04 billion, thanks in large part to strength in insurance underwriting and net interest income. A recent spike in interest rates by the Federal Reserve has benefited premiums on insurance policies, which have in turn helped fund Berkshire's various investments.

Buffett told CNBC after the earnings that Berkshire would continue to purchase short-term Treasuries despite an unexpected downgrade of the U.S. credit rating last week by ratings agency Fitch. Berkshire has bought this government debt to cover catastrophic insurance losses and fuel the firm's reserves for potential acquisitions.

Berkshire's cash pile grew to almost $147.38B as of the final day of June, approaching a record high of $149B.

The Omaha-based company posted a net profit of $35.9B during the April to June period, rebounding from a loss of $43.6B in the corresponding timeframe last year. Some of the uptick reflects an almost $26B unrealized gain from its stake in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) that was sparked by an almost 18% surge in the tech giant's shares in the quarter.

Meanwhile, Berkshire pulled back spending on share buybacks to $1.4B, down from $4.4B in the first three months of 2023.