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Berkshire Suffers $2.8 Billion Hit on Kraft's Subpoena News

Buffett has been crucial to Kraft Heinz’s history, teaming up with 3G Capital in 2015 to form the food company through a merger.

Berkshire Suffers $2.8 Billion Hit on Kraft's Subpoena News
Signage is displayed outside a Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices office in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. (Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Late-breaking news hasn’t been kind to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. this year.

Kraft Heinz Co. announced Thursday that profit missed estimates and it received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission tied to accounting policies and controls, sending shares plunging 18 percent in after-market hours. Berkshire’s investment declined from a valuation of about $15.7 billion to $12.9 billion as the stock plunged to $39.66 at 6:15 p.m. in New York. Kraft Heinz also said it would slash its quarterly dividend to 40 cents a share.

Buffett has been crucial to Kraft Heinz’s recent history, teaming up with 3G Capital in 2015 to form the food company through a merger. Thursday’s announcement marks the second time this year that a Berkshire holding has disclosed unfavorable news after the markets closed, hurting its stock. Apple Inc. trimmed its revenue outlook in January, which pummeled shareholders. That stock has since recovered.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Chiglinsky in New York at kchiglinsky@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Dan Reichl, David Scheer

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