<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HICKORY FUND
QUARTERLY
REPORT
JUNE 30, 2000
ONE PACIFIC PLACE, SUITE 600
1125 SOUTH 103 STREET
OMAHA, NEBRASKA 68124-6008
402-391-1980
800-232-4161
402-391-2125 FAX
www.weitzfunds.com
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
PERFORMANCE SINCE INCEPTION
The following table summarizes performance information for the fund as compared
to the S&P 500 over the periods indicated. The table also sets forth average
annual total return data for the fund for the one and five year periods ended
June 30, 2000, and for the period since inception, calculated in accordance with
SEC standardized formulas.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
DIFFERENCE
PERIOD ENDED HICKORY FUND S&P 500 HICKORY FUND -- S&P 500
------------ ------------ ------- -----------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
June 30, 2000 (6 months) -18.7% -0.4% -18.3%
Dec. 31, 1999 36.7 21.0 15.7
Dec. 31, 1998 33.0 28.6 4.4
Dec. 31, 1997 39.2 33.4 5.8
Dec. 31, 1996 35.4 22.9 12.5
Dec. 31, 1995 40.5 37.5 3.0
Dec. 31, 1994 -17.3 1.3 -18.6
Dec. 31, 1993 (9 months) 20.3 5.5 14.8
Since Inception (April 1, 1993) Cumulative 288.9 273.2 15.7
Compound Annual
Average Return 20.6 19.9 0.7
</TABLE>
The fund's average annual total return for the one and five years ended
June 30, 2000, and for the period since inception (April 1, 1993) was -10.1%,
26.9% and 20.6%, respectively. The returns assume redemption at the end of each
period and reinvestment of dividends.
2
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
The chart below depicts the change in the value of a $25,000 investment for the
period since inception of the Hickory Fund (April 1, 1993) through June 30,
2000, as compared with the growth of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index during the
same period. The Standard & Poor's Index is an unmanaged index consisting of 500
companies generally representative of the market for stocks of large-size U.S.
companies. The information assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains
distributions. A $25,000 investment in the Hickory Fund on April 1, 1993, would
have been valued at $97,235 on June 30, 2000.
EDGAR REPRESENTATION OF DATA POINTS USED IN PRINTED GRAPHIC
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
HICKORY FUND S&P 500
1-APR-93 $25,000 $25,000
<S> <C> <C>
Apr-93 $22,905 $24,396
May-93 $24,000 $25,046
Jun-93 $24,152 $25,119
Jul-93 $24,872 $25,018
Aug-93 $26,801 $25,965
Sep-93 $27,001 $25,765
Oct-93 $28,757 $26,298
Nov-93 $27,860 $26,048
Dec-93 $30,067 $26,363
Jan-94 $29,605 $27,258
Feb-94 $29,119 $26,519
Mar-94 $27,527 $25,364
Apr-94 $27,265 $25,690
May-94 $27,516 $26,110
Jun-94 $26,197 $25,470
Jul-94 $26,038 $26,306
Aug-94 $27,590 $27,382
Sep-94 $27,297 $26,714
Oct-94 $26,947 $27,312
Nov-94 $25,452 $26,318
Dec-94 $24,869 $26,708
Jan-95 $24,968 $27,400
Feb-95 $25,999 $28,466
Mar-95 $26,378 $29,305
Apr-95 $26,307 $30,167
May-95 $27,764 $31,370
Jun-95 $29,583 $32,098
Jul-95 $31,215 $33,162
Aug-95 $33,361 $33,244
Sep-95 $34,777 $34,647
Oct-95 $33,309 $34,523
Nov-95 $34,336 $36,037
Dec-95 $34,932 $36,731
Jan-96 $36,745 $37,979
Feb-96 $37,212 $38,332
Mar-96 $37,083 $38,701
Apr-96 $37,913 $39,271
May-96 $39,878 $40,282
Jun-96 $40,846 $40,435
Jul-96 $37,536 $38,650
Aug-96 $40,117 $39,466
Sep-96 $42,189 $41,685
Oct-96 $42,857 $42,834
Nov-96 $44,915 $46,069
Dec-96 $47,281 $45,156
Jan-97 $48,987 $47,976
Feb-97 $50,153 $48,352
Mar-97 $47,530 $46,369
Apr-97 $47,615 $49,135
May-97 $54,306 $52,124
Jun-97 $55,237 $54,458
Jul-97 $57,395 $58,790
Aug-97 $58,096 $55,499
Sep-97 $62,047 $58,536
Oct-97 $62,877 $56,584
Nov-97 $62,141 $59,201
Dec-97 $65,803 $60,216
Jan-98 $67,763 $60,882
Feb-98 $71,394 $65,270
Mar-98 $81,664 $68,610
Apr-98 $88,465 $69,300
May-98 $85,283 $68,110
Jun-98 $89,485 $70,874
Jul-98 $90,988 $70,121
Aug-98 $80,006 $59,993
Sep-98 $75,548 $63,837
Oct-98 $76,215 $69,025
Nov-98 $81,957 $73,206
Dec-98 $87,522 $77,422
Jan-99 $90,666 $80,658
Feb-99 $91,426 $78,152
Mar-99 $95,887 $81,278
Apr-99 $104,102 $84,425
May-99 $104,548 $82,434
Jun-99 $108,215 $87,005
Jul-99 $105,837 $84,291
Aug-99 $102,055 $83,871
Sep-99 $104,176 $81,575
Oct-99 $108,960 $86,734
Nov-99 $108,531 $88,501
Dec-99 $119,614 $93,710
Jan-00 $106,250 $89,002
Feb-00 $98,980 $87,319
Mar-00 $103,535 $95,856
Apr-00 $100,217 $92,973
May-00 $100,337 $91,064
Jun-00 $97,235 $93,309
</TABLE>
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SINCE INCEPTION
1-YEAR 5-YEARS (APRIL 1, 1993)
------------- -------- ----------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
HICKORY FUND.................... -10.1% 26.9% 20.6%
Standard & Poor's 500 Index..... 7.2% 23.8% 19.9%
</TABLE>
This information represents past performance of the Hickory Fund and is not
indicative of future performance. The investment return and the principal value
of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may
be worth more or less than the original cost.
3
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
JUNE 30, 2000 - QUARTERLY REPORT
July 6, 2000
Dear Fellow Shareholder:
The stock market struggled during the second quarter, with all the major
averages losing ground and technology stocks having the most difficulty. The
value of a Hickory share lost 6.1% during the quarter, while the S&P 500's total
return (including reinvested dividends) was -2.7%. Over the last twelve months,
Hickory's total return was -10.1%, while the S&P 500's total return was +7.2%.
According to Lipper, the average growth mutual fund had a total return of +19.6%
over the same twelve month period.
REVIEW AND OUTLOOK
The second quarter brought further evidence that expectations of rapidly
rising stock prices without interruption are overly optimistic. Those stocks
that suffered the most included many technology and Internet companies with high
market prices relative to little, if any, current income. The market seems to
have begun to question whether paying any price for future prospects makes
sense.
This trend is quite healthy. In the long run, more skepticism and focus on
value and less blind euphoria among investors should create a more favorable
environment for our investing style. In the short run, however, it is not
surprising that Hickory has not been able to make any headway. Our style of
buying growing value, priced at a discount has the potential to work well over
the long run, but it holds no special key to protect us from market downturns.
Because we look for out of favor situations that appear undervalued compared to
long-term prospects, our style demands patience. I continue to like the
companies we own. The current stock market prices of our companies continue to
look quite low relative to their underlying value. I remain convinced that our
patience will eventually be rewarded.
Overall, it was a quiet quarter for Hickory. Because so many of our stocks
seem substantially undervalued, significant changes to the portfolio were not
needed. I prefer to trade as little as possible because active trading implies
an ability to predict short-term stock price movements, and I don't believe I
have any special capabilities in that arena. I have remained active in the
search for new companies to buy, and the list of potential investments is
growing. Thus far, however, nothing has looked more attractive than those
companies we already own.
4
<PAGE>
HICKORY DIVIDEND
I hate paying taxes. And beneath all of the accounting complications of
share prices, number of shares, and changing cost basis, mutual fund dividends
are simply a taxable event. Since Hickory recently paid a large dividend, it
seems timely to discuss mutual fund dividends in general and this dividend in
particular.
I do my personal investing in Hickory. Therefore, it should come as no
surprise to you that I do not like to see Hickory paying large dividends. That
does not mean, however, that my primary goal in managing Hickory is to minimize
dividends. My goal is to maximize long-term returns. The key implication of this
statement is that I WILL sell stocks that I believe are no longer cheap. When
possible, I will defer those sales so that our tax bill comes later. That has
been the history over the last several years. Our performance has been quite
good, while our dividends have been quite small compared to our returns. But it
is not possible to delay sales of appreciated stock forever and still maximize
long-term returns. Therefore, there will be times when the piper must be paid.
This is one of those times.
I also realize that it is particularly galling to have a large tax bill at
a time when the fund's performance isn't what we want it to be. This timing is
certainly not predictable, but it also isn't as surprising as it might first
appear. There are two primary reasons why gains were generated at this time.
First, several stocks in the portfolio had appreciated to the point where they
were no longer cheap and where our position was too large relative to other
attractive opportunities. This was particularly true of Telephone and Data
Systems, Noble Drilling, and Liberty Media. Many of these sales actually took
place in the last two months of 1999. Mutual fund rules allowed the fund to
defer paying out those gains until now, delaying reported income from 1999 to
2000.
The second reason for the size of this dividend was the need to raise cash
to pay redeeming shareholders during the first quarter. In order to raise this
cash, I sold those stocks that I felt were least cheap and therefore had the
least long-term potential. I believe this process strengthened our portfolio.
The cost, however, was that many of the least cheap stocks also had appreciated
the most, resulting in larger realized gains.
One final comment on the topic seems appropriate. It would have been
better for most shareholders if short-term holders had not invested in the first
place. That is why I try to discuss my investment approach and its
characteristics, both good and bad. It is also one of the reasons why we chose
to close Hickory. We are all best served by a patient, stable shareholder base
that has a long-term, value driven investment philosophy.
5
<PAGE>
SUMMARY
Hickory has prospered historically because we have bought stocks when
others did not want them, and have had the patience to wait for the market to
once again care. This strategy has never resulted in smooth, predictable
performance, as our losses in 1994 and the fall of 1998 demonstrated. I do not
enjoy these periods of underperformance any more than you do, but I do believe
they are an inevitable part of stock market investing in general and our
investment style in particular. More importantly, I continue to believe that the
long-term potential of our current investments is quite high. Therefore, I
remain optimistic about the next several years.
Thank you for your continuing support.
Sincerely,
/s/ RICHARD F. LAWSON
Richard F. Lawson
Portfolio Manager
6
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES
JUNE 30, 2000
(UNAUDITED)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SHARES
OR UNITS COST VALUE
----------- ------------ ------------
<C> <S> <C> <C>
COMMON STOCKS -- 94.9%
AUTO SERVICES -- 4.2%
1,130,700 Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc.* $ 14,746,444 $ 23,886,037
------------ ------------
CABLE TELEVISION -- 3.1%
379,983 Adelphia Communications Corp. CL A* 6,992,176 17,811,703
------------ ------------
CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND SERVICES -- 7.8%
1,363,200 American Classic Voyages Co.* 19,227,302 28,116,000
702,200 Premier Parks, Inc.* 20,638,802 15,975,050
------------ ------------
39,866,104 44,091,050
------------ ------------
DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES -- 0.3%
54,700 Lynch Corp.* 1,953,299 1,770,913
------------ ------------
FINANCIAL GUARANTEE INSURANCE -- 4.5%
544,100 The PMI Group, Inc. 15,533,921 25,844,750
------------ ------------
FINANCIAL SERVICES -- 16.7%
1,223,200 AmeriCredit Corp.* 15,677,301 20,794,400
350 Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. CL A* 25,528,400 18,830,000
735,000 Capital One Financial Corp. 23,009,841 32,799,375
4,983,600 Imperial Credit Industries, Inc.* 76,714,986 21,180,300
1,031,000 United Panam Financial Corp.* 9,635,169 1,063,219
------------ ------------
150,565,697 94,667,294
------------ ------------
HEALTH CARE -- 3.2%
732,500 Lincare Holdings, Inc.* 18,775,794 18,037,813
------------ ------------
LODGING AND GAMING -- 3.9%
1,063,500 Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.* 15,692,726 22,267,031
------------ ------------
</TABLE>
7
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES, CONTINUED
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SHARES
OR UNITS COST VALUE
----------- ------------ ------------
<C> <S> <C> <C>
MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT -- 4.8%
718,050 Valassis Communications, Inc.* $ 15,787,236 $ 27,375,656
------------ ------------
METAL PROCESSING AND FABRICATION -- 2.9%
1,110,600 Quanex Corp. 19,248,464 16,520,175
------------ ------------
MORTGAGE BANKING -- 8.7%
26,946 New Century Financial Corp.* 232,409 234,935
1,417,400 Countrywide Credit Industries, Inc. 42,680,703 42,964,937
1,492,500 Resource Bancshares Mtg. Grp., Inc. 22,846,411 6,249,844
------------ ------------
65,759,523 49,449,716
------------ ------------
PRINTING SERVICES -- 5.2%
3,426,400 Mail-Well, Inc.* 42,015,151 29,552,700
------------ ------------
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS -- 3.9%
968,113 Dynex Capital, Inc.* 18,821,190 1,512,677
879,332 Fortress Investment Corp. 15,736,499 13,189,980
21,807 Healthcare Financial Partners Units** 2,175,248 2,180,700
520,000 NovaStar Financial, Inc.* 9,356,282 1,982,500
220,000 Redwood Trust, Inc. 4,964,257 3,080,000
------------ ------------
51,053,476 21,945,857
------------ ------------
RETAIL DISCOUNT -- 5.5%
2,626,400 Consolidated Stores Corp.* 44,308,869 31,516,800
------------ ------------
SATELLITE SERVICES -- 7.2%
1,162,800 Loral Space & Communications, Ltd.* 18,248,130 8,066,925
2,676,500 Orbital Sciences Corp.* 46,888,739 32,619,844
------------ ------------
65,136,869 40,686,769
------------ ------------
</TABLE>
8
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES, CONTINUED
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SHARES
OR UNITS COST VALUE
----------- ------------ ------------
<C> <S> <C> <C>
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES -- 8.2%
889,732 Centennial Communications Corp.* $ 3,564,071 $ 12,233,815
51,200 Lynch Interactive Corp. 2,758,248 4,812,800
293,900 Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. 10,774,323 29,463,475
------------ ------------
17,096,642 46,510,090
------------ ------------
TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT SERVICES -- 4.8%
4,146,500 Labor Ready, Inc.* 47,621,117 27,470,562
------------ ------------
Total Common Stocks 632,153,508 539,404,916
------------ ------------
WARRANTS -- 0.0%
260,000 NovaStar Financial, Inc., Expiring 2/03/01* 1,688,775 260
------------ ------------
CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS -- 0.8%
871,429 NovaStar Financial, Inc. 7% Pfd. Class B Cumulative* 5,772,636 4,688,288
------------ ------------
<CAPTION>
FACE
AMOUNT
-----------
<C> <S> <C> <C>
SHORT-TERM SECURITIES -- 4.4%
$24,908,694 Wells Fargo Government Money Market Fund 24,908,694 24,908,694
------------ ------------
Total Investments in Securities $664,523,613 569,002,158
============
Other Liabilities in Excess of Other Assets -- (0.1)% (846,211)
------------
Total Net Assets -- 100% $568,155,947
============
Net Asset Value Per Share $ 27.06
============
</TABLE>
*Non-income producing
**Each unit, which is restricted as to sale, consists of five shares of common
stock and one stock purchase warrant. The company distributed an additional
warrant per unit to unitholders during 1998. The warrants currently have no
value or cost assigned to them.
9
<PAGE>
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10
<PAGE>
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11
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lorraine Chang
John W. Hancock
Richard D. Holland
Thomas R. Pansing, Jr.
Delmer L. Toebben
Wallace R. Weitz
OFFICERS
Wallace R. Weitz, President
Mary K. Beerling, Vice-President & Secretary
Linda L. Lawson, Vice-President
Richard F. Lawson, Vice-President
INVESTMENT ADVISER
Wallace R. Weitz & Company
DISTRIBUTOR
Weitz Securities, Inc.
CUSTODIAN
Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota,
National Association
TRANSFER AGENT AND DIVIDEND PAYING AGENT
Wallace R. Weitz & Company
SUB-TRANSFER AGENT
National Financial Data Services, Inc.
This report has been prepared for the
information of shareholders of Weitz Series
Fund, Inc. -- Hickory Fund. For more detailed
information about the Fund, its investment
objectives, management, fees and expenses,
please see a current prospectus. This report is
not authorized for distribution to prospective
investors unless preceded or accompanied by a
current prospectus.
8/02/2000
514359
