Warren Buffett is revered as the best investor of our times. His stock-selection ability is unparalleled.
Yet, if you go to his site in hopes of learning about his take on the stock market, the first thing that greets you is a message from Buffett himself. He acts as the “salesman in chief” and advises on how to save money on insurance and jewelry — two long-term holdings (Geico and Borsheim’s). He gives you toll-free numbers for them. But he says he does not make stock recommendations.
Of more interest to investors are the strong earnings that Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B, released over the weekend and takeaways from reading its 10-Q. Before discussing the earnings, let us start with an eye-opening chart.
Chart
Please click here for the chart of Berkshire Hathaway compared with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, S&P 500 ETF SPY, and Nasdaq 100 ETF QQQ. Please note the following from the chart.
• The chart starts from the stock market’s bottom in March 2009.
• The chart covers the entire period of this bull market.
• The chart shows that there is no material outperformance by Berkshire Hathaway stock over the S&P 500 ETF and Dow Jones Industrial Average.
• The chart shows the Nasdaq 100 has significantly outperformed.
The conclusion from the chart is that Warren Buffett is no longer significantly outperforming the market.
Earnings
Berkshire Hathaway reported second-quarter operating earnings of $6.89 billion vs. $4.12 billion a year earlier, roughly in line with expectations. The two key metrics in the report are book value and insurance float. Book value per Class A equivalent share was $217,677 and the insurance float was $116 billion.
Trigger for stock appreciation
The trigger for Berkshire Hathaway’s stock appreciation will be any major buyback. Until then The Arora Report rating on the stock is neutral. The company said last month that it changed its buyback policy, giving it more flexibility in deciding when to repurchase shares…Read more at MarketWatch.
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