Category: Minority Stock Positions

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Minority Stock Positions

BYD Ships 1,200 Cars to Colombia

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway-backed BYD has shipped 1200 units of BYD DM-i super hybrid vehicles to Colombia from Xi’an, China.

The exported fleet consists of 200 units of BYD QIN PLUS DM-i and 1000 units of SONG PLUS DM-i, marking an all-time high for individual export volume of DM-i hybrid vehicles from BYD. It marks another step in BYD’s expansion into the Latin American market.

The BYD QIN PLUS DM-i and SONG PLUS DM-i were first launched in the Colombian market in March 2022. The two models, equipped with DM-i hybrid technology, were favored by Colombian consumers for their high fuel efficiency, long cruising range, and premium exterior and interior designs.

Since 2020, BYD has cooperated with its local distributor Motorysa to introduce a series of BYD new energy passenger vehicles to Colombia, including the large- and mid-sized luxury flagship HAN EV, luxury pure electric TANG SUV, and high-end plug-in hybrid models such as the QIN PLUS DM-i and SONG PLUS DM-i.

BYD has delivered nearly 3,000 NEV models to Colombia to date. The company becomes one of the major new energy passenger vehicle brands in the local market, contributing to the green transformation of Colombia’s transportation.

BYD has launched its new energy products in major Latin American countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Uruguay.

The brand has earned a reputation for its eco-friendly and high-tech products as BYD continues to promote the electrification of transportation in Latin America. With an increasing number of its NEV models being introduced overseas, BYD will create a new wave of green travel in the region.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway and BYD, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions

Berkshire-Backed Paytm Announces Stock Buyback

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway-backed financial Paytm Paytm has approved the repurchase of up to $127 million of its shares inclusive of all taxes and other expenses. The buyback was unanimously approved by the company’s board on Tuesday.

Paytm, which stands for Pay through mobile, is India’s largest mobile payments and commerce platform.

Paytm went public late last year at 2,150 Indian rupees ($26) but has lost some 60 percent of its value.

In 2018, Berkshire Hathaway made a $356 million investment for a 3-4% stake in One97 Communications Ltd, the parent of Paytm.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions

BYD Expands Mexico Presence With Auto Dealer Network

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway-backed BYD’s cars are still not available in the U.S., but they are getting closer and closer. BYD recently unveiled its luxury sedan HAN EV and all-electric SUV TANG EV at a test drive event in Mexico.

BYD announced its partnership with eight local dealers: Grupo Continental, Grupo Cleber, Grupo Dalton, Grupo Excelencia, Grupo Farrera, Grupo Fame, Liverpool, and Grupo del Rincón. The global enterprise is expected to expand its local presence in the country and introduce its top-of-the-line new energy vehicles (NEVs) to the Mexican market in 2023.

Zhou Zou, Country Manager of BYD Mexico, stated, “We are happy with this new step BYD is taking in Mexico. We want to be a long-term partner with projects that promote zero-emission solutions in the country. BYD Mexico now boasts more than 9 years of local experience, achieving significant milestones in new energy taxis, trucks, and forklifts. Today marks a new milestone for BYD, and we will bring new energy passenger vehicles to Mexican users in the first half of 2023.”

As BYD’s flagship Sedan, HAN EV comes equipped with BYD’s revolutionary Blade Battery, which offers outstanding performance in terms of safety and range. With a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 3.9 seconds, participants were allowed to enjoy the incredible handling experience of electric vehicles.

Neva Zhang, the Commercial Director of BYD Mexico, noted that BYD is excited to grow its global market presence in Mexico. “To cope with industrial transformation and ever-changing consumer trends, BYD will continue to focus on technological innovation”, said Zhang, “In addition, we will always respond to people’s pursuit of a better life with advanced technologies and diversified products.”

Electromobility is an environmental and economic trend. In Mexico, 50% of polluting emissions are generated from the use of electricity and transportation, with one-fifth stemming from transportation emissions, according to Statista, a global data collecting platform. Thus, reducing the emissions generated by motor transport must be a priority in the future.

For over 20 years, BYD has provided excellent sustainable electric vehicles experience to global users. On November 2022, BYD hit a new milestone with the 3 millionth NEV produced. By working with local partners, BYD will build a localized sales and service system, to ensure better consumer experiences for Mexican users.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway and BYD, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions

Berkshire Hathaway Sells Last of Its P&G Shares

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway has sold the last of its stake in consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble.

As of September 30, 2022, Berkshire still held 315,400 shares of the company, but that position has now been sold.

The sale was reported by NASDAQ in their change of institutional ownership of PG stock as of 9/30/2022.  

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions

Berkshire Sells More BYD Shares

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway is continuing its reduction of the number of shares it owns in Chinese automaker BYD. Berkshire sold 5.78 million of BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares on November 8, according to its latest stock exchange filing.

The latest sale reduces Berkshire’s stake in BYD to 16.62 percent.

Berkshire first began trimming its stake in BYD in mid-July, and just last week, Berkshire sold 3.297 million Hong Kong-listed shares.

In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares for $232 million.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway and BYD, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions

Lease Agreement Gives Occidental Space for up to 3 Billion Metric Tons of Carbon Sequestration

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Energy producer Occidental, which is over 20-percent owned by Berkshire Hathaway, and its subsidiary 1PointFive and King Ranch, a privately-held agricultural production and resource management company, today announced a lease agreement to support large-scale Direct Air Capture (DAC) projects for dedicated carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration on 106,000 acres in Kleberg County, Texas.

The agreement provides access to land for the potential to remove up to 30 million metric tons of CO2 per year through DAC and pore space estimated to store up to 3 billion metric tons of CO2 in geologic reservoirs.

The agreement will advance 1PointFive’s development plans for commercial-scale DAC plants as a decarbonization solution to accelerate a net-zero economy. In addition to DAC emissions capture, the King Ranch acreage is also located near industrial emitters in the Gulf Coast region, including Corpus Christi, where emissions can be captured, transported and sequestered in the pore space. Each DAC plant in the site is expected to be capable of removing up to 1 million metric tons of CO2 per year yielding a total capacity of up to 30 million metric tons per year when all facilities are operational.

“We are excited to work with King Ranch on what will be the largest DAC deployment project in the world, as we continue our plans to provide affordable and practical industrial-scale decarbonization solutions,” said Vicki Hollub, President and CEO, Occidental. “We believe large-scale DAC, which is an innovative engineered CO2 removal solution, will play an important role in helping organizations and nations reduce their net CO2 emissions and provide the scale necessary to make a difference in addressing climate change globally.”

“King Ranch has been focused on conservation for more than a century. While these methods to capture carbon are relatively new, they are consistent with our vision and values. We’re proud to partner with Occidental while continuing a focus on stewardship of our natural resources,” said Robert Hodgen, CEO of King Ranch, Inc.

Occidental’s first DAC plant in the Texas Permian Basin is currently under construction and builds on Occidental’s 50 years of carbon management experience. 1PointFive is working with Carbon Engineering to commercialize their technology and enable the global deployment of large-scale DAC projects. Worley is handling engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for the first DAC plant.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions

Berkshire Hathaway Pushes Its Occidental Petroleum Stake Above 20%

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

A dip in the price of Occidental Petroleum below $60 has Warren Buffett resuming his purchases of OXY shares, spending $391 million for just under 6.7 million Occidental shares between Aug. 4 and Aug. 8.

Berkshire now owns 188.4 million Occidental shares, which is 20.2% of all outstanding shares.

The purchases bring Berkshire Hathaway’s stake to over 20% and enable it to add a portion Occidental’s earnings to its own depending on the accounting method it chooses.

In its latest Form 4 filing, Berkshire made purchases at prices as low as $57.326 and as high as $60.0162.

In addition to its over 20% stake in OXY common stock, Berkshire also holds 100,000 series A preferred stock shares and warrants that Berkshire can exercise for roughly 84M shares of common stock at $59.624 per share.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future

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Minority Stock Positions Stock Portfolio

BYD Passes Tesla in Global EV Sales

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway-backed BYD sold a company record 134,036 new energy vehicles in June, as it moved passed Tesla as the global EV sales leader.

BYD sold 641,000 vehicles since January, and is aiming to sell 1.5 million EVs in 2022, which would more than double its 2021 sales.

BYD has also passed South Korea’s LG to move into second-place among global producers of EV batteries. BYD is second only to China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL).

In mid-June, BYD’s board approved a 33 percent rise in the share price the new energy company can pay to buy back its shares. The company can now pay up to 400 yuan each for shares repurchased from the open market.

The increase in purchase price comes as BYD’s share price is flirting with a new all-time high that has seen its market value move the company into third place among global automakers ahead of Volkswagen.

BYD and Berkshire Hathaway

In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares for $232 million. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $232 million had grown in value to $7.69 billion as of December 31, 2021.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway and BYD, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions Stock Portfolio

Link Transit Purchases 8 More BYD Battery-Electric Buses

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway-backed BYD has announced that Wenatchee, Washington-based Link Transit has purchased eight additional 30-foot American-made BYD battery-electric buses, building on Link’s long commitment to energy-saving, zero-emission transit technology.

The eight new BYD buses will complement Link’s growing all-electric fleet of 12 30- and 35-foot vehicles, with three additional 35-foot buses on order. Once the new vehicles are delivered, nearly half of Link’s total heavy-duty fleet of 48 vehicles will be all electric.

“We’re thankful for our partnership with Link Transit and to have the opportunity to provide their community with state-of-the-art clean-technology vehicles that are redefining public transportation,” said Patrick Duan, BYD’s Senior Vice President of Operations.

The eight new buses are being built by BYD at its Lancaster, California, Coach & Bus Manufacturing facility.
Every American-built, zero-emission BYD bus eliminates approximately 1,690 tons of carbon dioxide over its 12-year lifespan, according to the U.S. Transportation Department. This is equivalent to taking 27 cars off the road. Each bus also eliminates 10 tons of nitrogen oxides and 350 pounds of diesel particulate matter, improving air quality in the communities that they serve.

“These vehicles have been a tremendous success for us. Without opportunity charging, we’re seeing a range of 190 usable miles. With our Momentum Dynamics wireless opportunity chargers, we are extending this range to over 300 miles per day by charging the vehicles for 5 to 7 minutes 4 – 5 times per day while the vehicle is in the terminal on its hourly end of run lay-over. We have succeeded in replacing our diesel buses with our BYD buses on a one-to-one basis. We use these vehicles for all of our urban routes, in everyday use, with significantly lower operating costs. BYD has been great to work with,” said Richard DeRock, General Manager of Link Transit.

The Link Transit battery-electric fleet in 2022, averages 44 cents a mile in total operating costs, versus 88 cents a mile for its diesel vehicles. (With the recent run-up of diesel prices, the cost per mile has increased to 92 cents).

DeRock noted that the battery-electric buses have been particularly effective in navigating the extreme climate conditions within Link Transit’s service area. “It’s a very challenging operating environment – our winters are cold, and we can see 100 degrees in the summer. Finding vehicles that can maintain their effective range under these conditions is critically important,” he said.

BYD and Berkshire Hathaway

In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares for $232 million. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $232 million had grown in value to $7.69 billion as of December 31, 2021.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway and BYD, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions Stock Portfolio

Berkshire Hathaway Adds to Its Occidental Petroleum Stake

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

A dip in the price of Occidental Petroleum has Warren Buffett resuming his purchases of OXY shares on May 10 and 11.

In its latest Form 4 filing Berkshire made the following purchases:

Common Stock 05/10/2022 716,355 $57.3161
Common Stock 05/02/2022 185,419 $57.3386

After these purchases, Berkshire holds 143,162,392  shares of OXY common stock.

In addition to its over 15% stake in OXY common stock, Berkshire also holds 200,000 series A preferred stock shares and warrants that Berkshire for roughly 84M shares of common stock at $59.624 per share.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.