Company: BRK-A
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-025210
Chunk: 52

Company: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 52
---
 Berkshire as a whole. Further, labor disruptions or strikes at our subsidiaries, our customers or within our supply chains could reduce our sales, increase our costs and negatively impact our periodic operating results. 

Investments are unusually concentrated in equity securities and fair values are subject to loss in value. 

We concentrate a high percentage of the equity security investments of our insurance subsidiaries in a relatively small number of issuers. A significant decline in the fair values of our larger investments in equity securities may produce a material decline in our consolidated shareholders’ equity and our consolidated earnings. 

Since a large percentage of our equity securities are held by our insurance subsidiaries, significant decreases in the fair values of these investments will produce significant declines in the statutory surplus of our insurance subsidiaries. Our large statutory surplus is a competitive advantage, and a long-term material decline could have an adverse effect on our claims-paying ability ratings and our ability to write new insurance business, thus potentially reducing our future underwriting profits. 

Competition and technology may erode our business franchises and result in lower earnings. 

Each of our operating businesses face intense competition within markets in which they operate. While we manage our businesses with the objective of achieving long-term sustainable growth by developing and strengthening competitive advantages, many factors, including technological changes, may erode or prevent the strengthening of competitive advantages. Accordingly, our future operating results will depend to some degree on our operating units successfully protecting and enhancing their competitive advantages. If our operating businesses are unsuccessful in these efforts, our periodic operating results in the future may decline. 

Unfavorable general economic conditions may significantly reduce our operating earnings and impair our ability to access capital markets at a reasonable cost. 

Our operating businesses are subject to normal economic cycles affecting the general economy or the specific industries in which they operate. Significant deteriorations of economic conditions, including significant inflation over a prolonged period could produce a material adverse effect on one or more of our significant operations. In addition, our utilities and energy businesses and our railroad business regularly utilize debt as a component of their capital structures and depend on having access to borrowed funds through the capital markets at reasonable rates. To the extent that access to the capital markets is restricted or the cost of funding increases, these operations could be adversely affected.

Epidemics, pandemics or other similar outbreaks could hurt our operating businesses. 

The outbreak of epidemics, pandemics or other similar outbreaks in the future may adversely affect our operations, including the value of our equity securities portfolio. This may be due to closures or restrictions requested or mandated by governmental authorities, disruption