Legendary investor and polymath Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and longtime business partner of Warren Buffett, speaks today at the Daily Journal Corporation (DJCO) annual shareholder meeting in Los Angeles.
The event will be live-streamed exclusively on Yahoo Finance from 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT to 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT, available on the site’s home page and in the video above.
“We won’t be able to meet in person this year, but I hope many shareholders will come to our annual meeting online. In the meeting, Jerry [Salzman] and I will answer many questions as usual, ”Munger wrote in a letter to shareholders last month.
While Buffett is the more public and recognizable face of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A), the iconic conglomerate was built on Munger’s blueprint to move beyond the so-called ‘cigar-butt’ investment into ‘buying from wonderful companies at fair prices. “
Thousands usually make the pilgrimage to Omaha, Nebraska, to listen to Buffett and Munger at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. Still, Munger’s devoted followers – affectionately referred to as ‘groupies’ by him – travel to Los Angeles for the Daily Journal’s annual meeting, where he holds the court as chairman. Like most in-person events, this year’s meeting will only be held virtually.
Shareholders and value investors also made the trip to the Wesco Financial Corp. meeting in Pasadena, California, before Berkshire took over.
Although there were only 410 shareholders of Daily Journal’s common stock as of December 15, Munger attracts a significant and engaged audience each year, including non-shareholders, to hear his wisdom and maxims about business and investing, according to his annual report. , and life. He also talks about the cases of the Daily Journal.
The company publishes ten newspapers, including the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the San Francisco Daily Journal. Journal Technologies provides case management software for courts and other judicial authorities. According to the annual report, the software business represented 71% of total operating revenues in fiscal 2020, compared to 65% of total revenues in 2019.
In the shareholder letter, Munger noted that after many years as a “cash cow,” the newspaper company was at break-even, with sales of $ 14,695 million, a 14% drop from the previous year. Meanwhile, the “much more significant” software business delivered $ 35.247 million in revenue, up 12% from the same period a year ago.
“I am very optimistic about the ultimate success of the company’s software business, but I expect this will take a long time. In the company’s newspaper business, I hope it will make modest profits every year for the next few years,” Munger wrote.
As of September 30, the Daily Journal Corporation held $ 28.96 million in cash and had an equity portfolio worth $ 179.37 million. The portfolio includes investments in Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), US Bancorp (USB) and Posco (PKX), according to the most recent 13-F securities filing. The portfolio of five companies includes one in foreign currency.
“This wealth of liquid wealth supports the company’s business,” Munger wrote. “The company’s cash came from retained newspaper revenues, multiplied by seizing opportunities that are no longer widely available.”
Munger added that the value of the equity portfolio was $ 260 million as of December 31, up 45% from the end of September. He noted that “shareholders should not expect a significant appreciation above that level in the near term.”
Shares of Daily Journal Corporation closed at $ 404 on Dec. 31, a price “that was reached amid (1) much speculative frenzy and (2) many forced purchases by index funds,” Munger wrote.
The Daily Journal’s stock last traded around 2.5% on Wednesday, close to $ 354.99.
This post will be continuously updated with highlights from Munger’s opening comments and shareholder Q&A.
Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. follow her Twitter