Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets has added its 100th jet, a Cessna Citation Latitude, to its Europe-based fleet, as part of its $2.5 billion fleet investment.
“NetJets is proud of its unwavering commitment to safety, service, and unmatched global access,” Christian Luwisch, executive director of NetJets Europe, said. “This landmark achievement is a testament to all at NetJets continuing to deliver exceptional service and access to our owners.”
Netjets has been experiencing record demand, and 55 aircraft to its global fleet of 800 aircraft in 2021. Its plans for 2022 include the purchase of more than 75 new aircraft, and the company has slowed the decommissioning of aircraft.
Looking towards a lower carbon future, NetJets signed a Memorandum of Understanding with German aerospace company Lilium for the prospective¬ sale of up to 150 Lilium electric vertical take-off jets, plus related after-market services.
The proprietary technology at the core of the Lilium Jet is Ducted Electric Vectored Thrust (DEVT), which has zero operating emissions.
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 the 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.
One thing Warren Buffett thinks CEOs would benefit from is if they better understood investing. And one thing that confounds him is when managers aren’t confident enough to manage their own personal portfolio, yet they still think they should be the ones to make the decisions on enormous acquisitions and mergers. It is like being too scared to fly a Cessna but still thinking you can pilot a 747 jumbo jet.
“I will have friends who are CEOs of companies and they’ll have somebody else handle their money. If you say to them, you know, should you buy Coca-Cola or Gillette or something like that, they’ll say that’s much too tough. I don’t understand that sort of thing. What do I know about investing?” Warren Buffett said at the 2005 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. “And then some investment banker walks in the next day with the idea they buy a $3 billion company, which is just buying a lot of shares of stock in one company, and they’ll run through some little two-hour presentation and turn it over to a strategic planning group and think that they are then the ones that should make that decision as to whether to buy multibillion-dollar businesses when they really don’t feel they’re qualified to make $10,000 decisions with their own money.”
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 the 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.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Mouser Electronics has received the Global High Service Distributor of the Year Award for the eighth time from TE Connectivity (TE), a world leader in connectivity and sensors. The prestigious distribution award recognizes Mouser’s 2021 performance based on sales growth, market share growth, customer growth and business plan performance.
“We are extraordinarily proud to receive this award for the eighth time. All of us at Mouser appreciate TE for recognizing the excellent work of our teams across the globe,” said Jeff Newell, Senior Vice President of Products at Mouser Electronics. “TE is an industry leader and valued manufacturer partner, and we are excited to reach our mutual business goals and build on this success together.”
“It is my pleasure to honor the Mouser team with this Distributor of the Year Award for the eighth time,” said Tammy Stine, Global Account Manager at TE Connectivity. “Mouser’s consistent track record of high achievement with TE demonstrates the amazing strength of our business partnership, especially for 2021 in the face of continued challenges. We couldn’t be prouder of the sales and customer growth that Mouser achieved for us.”
Mouser previously won the TE Global High Service Distributor of the Year Award for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020 performance. Additionally, for 2018, Mouser received TE’s Customer Expansion Awards for APAC, Japan and EMEA, along with Americas Distributor of the Year Awards for the Application Tooling Business Unit and Data and TE’s Devices Business Unit.
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 the 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.
Berkshire Hathaway-backed BYD has stopped the production of automobiles powered only by gasoline, with the final model rolling off the assembly line in March.
The Shenzhen, China-based automaker will turn its focus to manufacturing innovative battery- electric vehicles, including high-tech battery electric cars and trucks and plug-in hybrids, company officials said.
While EV battery fires have been a concern with some EVs, including the Chevy Bolt brand, which had all its vehicles recalled to replace defective lithium-ion battery modules in Chevrolet Bolt EVs and EUVs, BYD uses its patented ultra-safe Blade Batteries in all its pure electric models.
According to the company, the Blade Battery has successfully passed the battery industry’s so-called “Everest” test – the nail penetration test, which proves it will never spontaneously ignite.
BYD will continue to produce and supply the components for internal combustion (ICE) vehicles so as to continually provide comprehensive service and after-sales support to existing customers.
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.
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.
While many mutual funds and ETFs limit themselves to a particular area, this is not Warren Buffett’s approach. He wants the maximum flexibility to take advantage of opportunities, and he also doesn’t want to be forced to do any particular thing.
“I would say that we think the most logical fund is the one we have at Berkshire where, essentially, we can do anything that makes sense and are not compelled to do anything that we don’t think makes sense,” Warren Buffett said at the 2007 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. “So any entity that is devoted to a limited segment of the financial market we would regard as being at a disadvantage to one that has total authority if you have the right person in charge… So we would not want to devote our funds to something that was only going to buy bonds, something that was only going to buy futures, or anything of the sort.”
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 the 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.
BNSF Railway Company has acquired 3,508 acres of land in Surprise, Arizona in order to build a major intermodal freight and logistics center. The land was bought from the Arizona State Land Department at auction on March 30, 2022 for $49.1 million. BNSF was the sole bidder. BNSF already owns an adjacent 500 acre parcel that is currently zoned as rural residential.
In 2007, BNSF proposed a 130-acre rail yard, 200-acre automotive shipping facility with up to 16 million square feet of warehouse space in Surprise, but the project was put on hold during the Great Recession. At the time, BNSF projected the project would create 6,000 jobs.
Surprise, Arizona is on a BNSF rail line with the Ennis Spur running to the BNSF certified Southwest Railplex industrial park. The two-square mile park is shovel-ready with all major utilities to site.
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 the 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.
Berkshire Hathaway-backed BYD, one of the world’s best-selling EV brands, is collaborating with NVIDIA on intelligent driving technology.
BYD will use the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion computing architecture in its new energy vehicles (NEVs) for automated driving and parking, starting in the first half of 2023.
BYD is a leader in the electric vehicle industry, and NVIDIA is a leader in artificial intelligence (AI). The cooperation is an important joint effort in the production and deployment of environmentally sustainable NEVs that become increasingly intelligent with over-the-air software updates.
BYD’s NEVs will feature the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin SoC as the centralized compute and AI engine for automated driving and intelligent cockpit features.
NVIDIA DRIVE Orin, the world’s highest performance automotive-grade SoC, is the AI brain of next-generation vehicles. Delivering 254 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) of compute performance, DRIVE Orin features high-speed peripheral interfaces and high memory bandwidth (205GB/sec) to seamlessly handle data from multiple sensor configurations for safe and secure intelligent driving capabilities. NVIDIA DRIVE Orin achieves systematic safety standards such as ISO 26262 ASIL-D to ensure safe, highly advanced intelligent driving.
NVIDIA DRIVE Orin system-on-a-chip
“Software-defined autonomy and electrification are some of the driving forces behind the automotive industry’s transformation. Through the power of AI and the NVIDIA DRIVE platform, BYD will deliver software-defined EV fleets that are not only safe and reliable but also improve over time,” said Rishi Dhall, Vice President of Automotive, NVIDIA.
With industry-leading technologies such as the Blade Battery, DM-i super hybrid technology, and the e-platform, BYD sold nearly 600,000 electric passenger vehicles in 2021 and had achieved a cumulative production and sales volume of electric passenger vehicles over 1.5 million units. In China, BYD has dominated the top sales of electric passenger vehicles for nine times. Leveraging its strengths in technology, quality, and performance over the last 27 years, BYD continues connecting with customers, fans, and partners, through new technology, wisdom, and value, to drive the industry forward together.
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.
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.
The Kraft Heinz Company, the owner of the Heinz and Quero brands in Brazil, has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Companhia Hemmer Indústria e Comércio, a Brazilian food company focused on condiments and sauces, after the deal was approved without restriction by CADE (Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense), Brazil’s antitrust body.
The deal was first announced in September 2021, and CADE was notified in November 2021.
The association with Hemmer, a 107-year-old company based in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, will expand Kraft Heinz’s International Taste Elevation platform with its focus on condiments and sauces and will also support its strategy to increase its presence in emerging markets.
The acquisition aims to accelerate the growth of both companies, whose brands and portfolios are complementary. Hemmer will also benefit from Kraft Heinz’s distribution network and go-to-market model in Brazil, including in the growing foodservice channel.
“This is an important move for our International growth strategy, which is focused on Taste Elevation, our portfolio of high-quality, delicious products that enhance the taste of food,” says Rafael Oliveira, EVP & President, International Markets at Kraft Heinz.
“We are very excited about the completion of the deal, which furthers Kraft Heinz’s plan to become one of the largest food players in the country, expanding our selection for our consumers,” said Fernando Rosa, Managing Director of Brazil at Kraft Heinz. “This combination represents a tremendous growth opportunity for both companies, which are both built on the pillars of tradition, innovation, quality, superior ingredients, and flavor.”
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 the 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.
Risk and the amount of time you intend to hold a stock are inextricably linked, according to Warren Buffett. That linkage is what makes day trading stocks so risky, as the shorter the holding period, the more likely that short term price movements will sink you.
“Well, we do define risk as the possibility of harm or injury. And in that respect we think it’s inextricably wound up in your time horizon for holding an asset,” Warren Buffett said at the 1994 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. “If you intend to buy XYZ Corporation at 11:30 this morning and sell it out before the close today, I mean, that is, in our view, that is a very risky transaction. Because we think 50 percent of the time you’re going to suffer some harm or injury. If you have a time horizon on a business, we think the risk of buying something like Coca-Cola at the price we bought it at a few years ago is essentially, is so close to nil, in terms of our perspective holding period. But if you asked me the risk of buying Coca-Cola this morning and you’re going to sell it tomorrow morning, I say that is a very risky transaction.”
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 the 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.
BNSF Railway Company and J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. are launching a joint effort to substantially improve capacity in the intermodal marketplace while also meeting the expanding needs of current customers.
Demand for intermodal services has grown significantly in recent years as companies look to secure capacity, while reducing costs and their carbon footprint.
Based on current and projected trends, J.B. Hunt plans to grow its intermodal fleet to as many as 150,000 containers in the next three to five years, a 40+% increase from its count at the end of 2021. The company has completed more than four million intermodal loads since 2020.
“Over the past few years, intermodal has been disrupted by increased demand and tight capacity, resulting in poor container velocity and long dwell times,” said John Roberts, president and CEO of J.B. Hunt. “Together, J.B. Hunt and BNSF will enhance their work to bring back the consistency and reliability customers expect with intermodal services and further embrace intermodal conversion and transloading services. This priority falls directly in line with J.B. Hunt’s mission statement to create the most efficient transportation network in North America.”
Looking forward and as part of the initiative, BNSF will increase capability at multiple intermodal facilities. To further integrate its joint service product with J.B. Hunt, BNSF is providing several property locations around key intermodal hubs in Southern California, Chicago, and other key markets to increase efficiency at terminals.
Additionally, BNSF will bolster its railcar equipment to accommodate the anticipated increase in container capacity, which will support efficient throughput and strong service performance.
In addition to growing its container count, J.B. Hunt will add supporting chassis based on market need. Over the years, both companies have invested billions of dollars to ensure intermodal’s ability to grow with customers and meet the increasing demand for intermodal services.
“More than 30 years ago, J.B. Hunt Transport Services and BNSF predecessor The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company loaded a Hunt trailer onto a railcar to help usher in the modern age of intermodal freight transport,” said Katie Farmer, BNSF president and CEO.
“BNSF’s industry-leading service combined with J.B. Hunt’s unparalleled intermodal product has set the standard for seamless door-to-door service. We will raise the bar on service to the next level through technology and innovation as we further integrate our platforms with real-time data exchanges. We want our customers to enjoy the best of both worlds: economical and environmentally friendly service delivered by transportation’s premium providers.”
The companies will leverage technology, including the industry leading J.B. Hunt 360°®, to improve efficiencies in rail transport. J.B. Hunt 360’s digital freight matching platform is one of the few in the industry to support intermodal services. Based on analysis of J.B. Hunt 360 transactions and annual bid activity, the company estimates that an additional 7 to 11 million shipments could be converted to intermodal, supporting long-term growth opportunities while avoiding carbon emissions.
J.B. Hunt and BNSF disrupted the transportation industry in 1989 by developing a double-stack shipping solution that would complement both rail and trucking services, a first for modern transportation. Today, J.B. Hunt operates the largest company-owned intermodal fleet in North America with more than 109,000 53’ containers supported by company-owned chassis and tractors.
BNSF operates the largest intermodal rail network handling roughly 1 million more intermodal units each year than any other railroad and through their investments offer the fastest intermodal route between Southern California and the Midwest.
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 the 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.