* Greg Abel faces challenge of winning investor trust

* Berkshire to release first-quarter results, cash stake,

buybacks

* Annual meeting features new structure, voices

By Jonathan Stempel

OMAHA, Nebraska, May 2 (Reuters) - Greg Abel will

preside over his first Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) annual

meeting on Saturday, where shareholders hope to learn how the

conglomerate built by Warren Buffett can evolve and grow - and

resuscitate its severely underperforming stock.

Abel, 63, who became chief executive in January, must earn

the trust of investors increasingly focused on technology and

artificial intelligence, unlike Berkshire's collection of

insurers, retailers and hard-asset businesses in energy,

industrials and manufacturing.

Though Berkshire is often considered a microcosm of the U.S.

economy, its shares have lagged the Standard & Poor's 500

by 39 percentage points since Buffett announced at last year's

meeting that he would step down. He remains chairman.

Abel had been Buffett's designated successor since 2021, but

the announcement was a surprise. The 95-year-old Buffett plans

to watch from the audience of an arena in downtown Omaha,

Nebraska, as Abel and other executives discuss Berkshire's

operations and answer shareholders' questions.

"Greg has a formidable challenge, replacing the greatest

investor who ever lived," said Paul Lountzis, a money manager

attending his 34th Berkshire annual meeting.

Berkshire, he added, "is not snazzy, it's not exciting ...

It's not a fast-growing technology stock. That's what people are

jumping on today."

Indeed, AI-related investment was a key driver of the 2% gain in

first-quarter U.S. gross domestic product, according to the

Commerce Department's advance estimate.

It is unclear how higher inflation and slumping consumer

sentiment may have weighed on demand for products and services

offered by Berkshire subsidiaries.

Investors are also getting more details as the company

reported first-quarter results before the start of the meeting.

The meeting is the centerpiece of a weekend of shareholder

events around Omaha, including investment conferences, private

get-togethers, and shopping from Berkshire-owned businesses in a

downtown exhibit hall.

Prior to the meeting, thousands of people lined up outside a

downtown arena before doors opened at 7 a.m., though the lines

were considerably shorter than in recent years.

Jobby Chin, a finance student from Singapore attending her

first meeting, said she got in line at 2 a.m.

"I wanted to soak in the atmosphere, and network with

finance professionals," she said. "We wanted to make the most

of the opportunity."

Michael DiDonna, a fashion photographer from Oyster Bay, New

York, said he arrived at 3:10 a.m. for his fifth Berkshire

meeting.

"We like to sit in the same seat, to feel the energy," he

said. "It's a really exciting time for Berkshire. I want to

feel a part of the monumental shift at the company."

CHALLENGES ON WHERE TO PUT CASH

Abel inherits many challenges that bedeviled Buffett,

perhaps none more than where to invest Berkshire's year-end $373

billion cash pile.

While Berkshire resumed stock repurchases in March after

nearly two years with none, it has gone a decade without a

needle-moving acquisition.

Many businesses have also been sluggish, with overall

operating profit falling 6% in 2025 and revenue growth

nonexistent.

Shareholders may also wonder how Abel can effectively manage

Berkshire's stock portfolio.

Unlike Buffett, Abel has no professional history as a stock

picker, yet by February he was overseeing 94% of Berkshire's

stock investments, instead of giving more responsibility to

investment manager Ted Weschler, who oversees the other 6%.

Buffett's thinking about the handover changed over time,

most notably in 2024 when he said someone like Abel who

understands whole businesses can also understand stocks.

NEW STRUCTURE FOR MEETING

The structure of the meeting will differ from past

gatherings.

Abel is expected to discuss Berkshire for an hour, and

answer shareholder questions for 2-1/2 hours.

Also answering questions will be insurance chief Ajit Jain

and, for the first time, Katie Farmer and Adam Johnson,

respectively CEO of the BNSF railroad and a Berkshire president

overseeing the conglomerate's consumer, services and retail

operations.

"It's watching history unfold, a reset for the next

generation," said Tom Russo, a money manager who said he began

attending Berkshire shareholder meetings in 1985.

The meeting is likely to focus far more on Berkshire than

did meetings led by Buffett and late Vice Chairman Charlie

Munger, which regularly addressed the economy, markets and

lessons in life.

Buffett's and Munger's lively repartee was unique in

corporate America and is much missed by shareholders.

But those who on Friday visited Berkshire's annual

shareholder shopping day, buying mementos such as Squishmallows

and spatulas that featured Abel's and Buffett's visages,

expressed confidence in Berkshire's leadership transition.

"Warren wouldn't turn it over to somebody who wasn't

competent," said Lori Boyd, a retired special education teacher

from Blue Springs, Missouri.

After the question-and-answer session ends, shareholders

will vote whether to grant non-binding approval of compensation

for top Berkshire executives, whether to have similar votes

every three years, and whether Berkshire should publish a report

discussing oversight of its more than 387,000 employees.

Berkshire's board supports the "say-on-pay" proposals, and

opposes publishing the report.