Berkshire Hathaway shares sag since Buffett said he's retiring originally appeared on TheStreet.

Warren Buffett's retirement announcement was not what investors wanted.

During the middle of Thursday's trading, shares of Berkshire Hathaway  (BRK.A)  and  (BRK.B)  had fallen as much as 10.3% from all-time intraday highs of $812,855 and $539.80 on May 2.

May 2 was the day before some 40,000 investors and fans jammed the company's annual meeting, held in an Omaha, Neb., arena.

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At the very end of the meeting, Buffett, who has been CEO of the company for more than 60 years, announced he will step aside on Dec. 31.

Greg Abel is slated to replace Buffett, who will serve as chairman.

The shares fell nearly 5% on May 5, the first day of trading after Buffett's announcement and have stumbled steadily since.

Perhaps some good news: shares of both classes ended Friday about 1% higher at $740,396 and $493.53, respectively. So, maybe the stocks' downturn may have ended.

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Berkshire's uptick was probably helped by Friday's big market rally. The gains, however, came after five straight days of declines for both share classes.

In fact, the A shares have shown just nine gains since May 2. The B shares rose just 10 times in those 24 days. And the stocks are down 8.9% and 8.6%, respectively, in those 24 days, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index is up 5.5%.

But remember this. Year to date, the A shares are up 8.7% and the B shares are up 8.9%. The S&P 500's 2025 gain so far: just 2%.

One explanation for the decline is investors are having trouble dealing with the possibility that Buffett won't be the face of the company.

Buffett evolved into a folk hero for many investors partly because of his folksy, plainspoken manner, especially as he chaired the company's annual meeting.

Plus, his rigorous devotion to value investing and the company's investment track record built a company that still has a $1 trillion-plus market capitalization despite the stock's decline.

Berkshire's investment in Apple  (AAPL)  has been legendarily profitable — in part because Buffett resisted investing in technology for years until his partner, the late Charlie Munger, convinced him Apple was a consumer company.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been a regular attendee at the Berkshire annual meeting.