Wide-moat-rated Berkshire Hathaway reported a relatively quiet first quarter for its equity investment portfolio, with net sales coming in at an estimated $17.3 billion based on the insurer's most recent 13F and 10-Q filings.
Book value per share, which is a good proxy for measuring changes in Berkshire's intrinsic value, increased at an estimated 18.3% CAGR during 1965-2023, compared with a 10.2% annualized return for the S&P 500 TR Index.
Bears
Given its size, Berkshire's biggest long-term hurdle will be its ability to consistently find deals that not only add value but are large enough to be meaningful.
Start a free trial of Morningstar Investor to unlock exclusive ratings and continuous analyst coverage to help you decide if BRK.B is a good fit for your portfolio.
Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company with a wide array of subsidiaries engaged in diverse activities. The firm's core business segment is insurance, run primarily through Geico, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, and Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group. Berkshire has used the excess cash thrown off from these and its other operations over the years to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe (railroad), Berkshire Hathaway Energy (utilities and energy distributors), and the companies that make up its manufacturing, service, and retailing operations (which include five of Berkshire's largest noninsurance pretax earnings generators: Precision Castparts, Lubrizol, Clayton Homes, Marmon, and IMC/ISCAR). The conglomerate is unique in that it is run on a completely decentralized basis.