Berkshire analysts are still tepid on the stock after annual meeting. What Abel can do to win them over

Cnbc · May 04, 2026 · 513 words · By Yun Li

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What to know about Berkshire analysts are still tepid on the stock after annual meeting. What Abel can do to win them over

Wall Street analysts came away from Greg Abel's first annual meeting at Berkshire Hathaway broadly impressed with his command of the business, but underwhelmed by the company's restrained pace of share buybacks.

Claims checked 11

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

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Center100%

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5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Despite Berkshire's cash pile nearing $400 billion and a return to buybacks in early March, first-quarter repurchases totaled just $235 million, a figure that several analysts said fell short of expectations given perceived discount between the stock price…

Common ground

"We think investors were hoping for a more aggressive buyback stance," Catherine Seifert, analyst at CFRA, said in a note.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Berkshire analysts are still tepid on the stock after annual meeting. What Abel can do to win them over?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Berkshire's cash pile nearing $400 billion?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/04/berkshire-analysts-were-tepid-after-annual-meeti…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

verified Verified 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

info Single Source 1

schedule Pending 1

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Claim 1: “Berkshire's cash pile nearing $400 billion”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm Berkshire's cash pile hit $397.4 billion, which is nearing $400 billion.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_Hathaway

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) is an American energy holding company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. The company is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. BHE owns and operates a div…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_Hathaway_Energy

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of subsidiaries, equities, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments owned by multinational holding company Berkshire Hathaway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Berksh…

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 2: “Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO”

VERIFIED

A cross-reference from CNBC explicitly states the annual meeting was held 'since Warren Buffett left the chief executive role at the start of the year'.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday held its first annual meeting since Warren Buffett left the chief executive role at the start of the year.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/04/5-things-to-know-before-the-…

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Claim 3: “The owner of Geico insurance and Dairy Queen”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and general company descriptions confirm Berkshire Hathaway owns Geico and Dairy Queen.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — International Dairy Queen, Inc. (DQ) is an American multinational fast food restaurant chain founded in 1940 and headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. The first Dairy Queen was owned and operated b…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_Queen

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “it purchased $226 million in stock on March 4”

CORROBORATED

Confirmed by a cross-reference from CNBC and supported by the context of Q1 buyback activity in web search results.

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web search NEUTRAL — Berkshire Hathaway Energy is an American energy holding company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. The company is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_Hathaway_Energy

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web search NEUTRAL — As of March 31, Berkshire's total cash (held mostly in T-Bills) was $397 billion.After a nearly two year hiatus without any stock buybacks, in Q1 Berkshire repurchased a modest $234 million of its own…
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/berkshire-cash-hits-record…

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web search NEUTRAL — Berkshire Hathaway reported its 2023 third-quarter earnings on Saturday, November 4, with Berkshire Hathaway A reporting EPS of $-8, $14.00 worse than the analyst estimate of $6. Revenue for the quart…
https://www.investing.com/academy/statistics/berkshire-hatha…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 5: “Catherine Seifert, analyst at CFRA... maintained her hold rating on Berkshire”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided only describes CFRA as a research firm; it does not contain any specific rating or statement from Catherine Seifert regarding Berkshire Hathaway.

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web search NEUTRAL — Achieve your investment goals with CFRA's independent research for individual investors. Access our comprehensive suite of equity, ETF, and mutual fund insights, weekly publications, and unbiased tech…
https://www.cfraresearch.com/solutions/individual-investors/

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web search NEUTRAL — CFRA delivers independent, unbiased, and actionable investment research, data, and analytics to clients worldwide with our award-winning technology so they can make smarter investment and business dec…
https://www.cfraresearch.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — CFRA, a global leader in financial intelligence solutions, offering expert analysis and insights to help you make smarter, faster decisions. Trust our independent expertise for your business and inves…
https://www.cfraresearch.com/about/

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Claim 6: “UBS analyst Brian Meredith reiterated a buy rating”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm UBS analyst Brian Meredith maintained or reiterated a 'Buy' rating on Berkshire Hathaway.

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web search NEUTRAL — UBS Analyst Brian Meredith maintains a 'Buy' rating on Berkshire Hathaway BRK/B. Price target raised to $595 from $593, reflecting a 0.34% increase.
https://www.gurufocus.com/news/3178994/berkshire-hathaway-br…

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web search NEUTRAL — On June 3, analyst Brian Meredith from UBS lowered its price target on Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) from $606 to $591, while keeping a Buy rating on the stock.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ubs-lowered-price-target-berk…

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web search NEUTRAL — Monday, UBS analyst Brian Meredith (NYSE:MDP) maintained a Buy rating on Berkshire Hathaway Inc . (NYSE:BRKa) (NYSE:BRK-B) with a steady price target of $606.00.
https://www.investing.com/news/analyst-ratings/ubs-maintains…

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Claim 7: “Greg Abel's first annual meeting at Berkshire Hathaway”

CORROBORATED

Web search results state that 'new CEO Greg Abel opened the first annual meeting without Warren Buffett on stage Saturday' and that Abel was promoted to CEO in January.

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Claim 8: “KBW analyst Meyer Shields... has an underperform rating on Berkshire”

CORROBORATED

Web search results explicitly state that KBW analyst Meyer Shields cut Berkshire to 'underperform'.

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web search NEUTRAL — KBW analyst Meyer Shields, who had rated Berkshire "market perform," also cut his target price for the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate's Class A shares to $700,000 from $740,000, in his report date…
https://www.aol.com/articles/berkshire-cut-underperform-kbw-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Meyer Shields Profile - KBW Analyst. 795 Followers.Copying Meyer Shields's trades since 2011 and holding each position for 1 Year would result in 70.12% of your transactions generating a profit, with …
https://www.tipranks.com/experts/analysts/meyer-shields

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web search NEUTRAL — Berkshire Hathaway's proposed investment in Occidental is basically funding what some see as a hostile takeover bid."The hostile component, the bidding component is a little strange. Berkshire has sai…
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/30/berkshire-investment-in-occi…

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Claim 9: “first-quarter repurchases totaled just $235 million”

CORROBORATED

One web search result explicitly states Berkshire repurchased a 'modest $234 million' in Q1, which is approximately the $235 million claimed. Another source mentions the low volume of repurchases.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 10: “Berkshire resumed buybacks in March for the first time since 2024”

CORROBORATED

Web search results state that Berkshire repurchased stock in Q1 (which includes March) after a 'nearly two year hiatus' and specifically mentions these were the 'first buybacks since May 2024'.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 11: “Abel said Berkshire is already exploring AI-driven tools to improve operations at BNSF”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.