Michael Decter Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (B) BRK.B-N PAST TOP PICK Feb 18, 2025

Considered a growth company. Great job growing FCF per share over the last 50 years. Exceptionally well run. Buffett may be stepping back, but culture he's instilled for capital allocation and ethics will transfer to the next generation of leadership with Greg Abel.

Only concern is valuation, bit rich. Becomes increasingly difficult for large companies to allocate capital at high rates of return. Forward rate of return is probably high single-digit or low double. An 8-10% rate of return is strong in his view. High-quality and predictable business. Many have done poorly betting against it.

Extremely well run. Shares pulling back from highs once Buffett announced retirement. Share price at 200-day MA, an inflection point. You have to understand that it's a fairly concentrated conglomerate of companies, including AAPL (though position was trimmed). Value strategy, which does well in time of uncertainty and higher interest rates; not so much when growth is on the boil with S&P being driven by tech.

Likes it long term, but big overhang on new management right now. If drops below 200-day MA, investors need to pay attention. Also tied to your outlook on AAPL.

P&C insurance is very defensive, so it draws crowds when people get panicky in the market and the price gets bid up. Has become too inefficient as it's gotten bigger. Instead, he'd prefer some of the US private equity names for the capital levers they can pull, which have similar business models.

Is -10% since May 3, but 18.5% this year. They sold but still own lots of Apple shares (2%). BRK did no buying or selling last month. Apple's weakness isn't helping BRK. Insurance is a great space during a risk-off market, but we're not in that market now.

Warren Buffet, in his annual letter, said that when he retires, he will just buy the S&P 500. This is not bad to hold in a taxable account, because this will compound and does not pay a dividend (so no taxes on that). He likes Berkshire, but won't be that different from owning the broad U.S. market.

We all knew Buffett would retire, but the announcement itself was unexpected. His successor is very well known. AAPL is a very big position, so potential headwinds with tariffs. Well run, defensive. Market rally since April has been more on the super-growth areas. Still a solid, long-term hold.

Has a great, long-term chart, but has pulled back in recent months, so is now a great entry point. Also add in the coming correction.

Warren Buffett is tremendous and he has faith that Buffett did a good job picking his successor. If you own this, hold on.

Is -11% since May. But they have serious investments in Japan and Apple. That said, the impact of catastrophic losses in the insurance space is impacting BRK's overall portfolio. They increased their stake in Domino's which hasn't performed.

The Buffett premium is disappearing. Sitting on lots of cash, and the bigger risk right now is what do they do with it. He doesn't know where they're going with that. People are unsure about the new management. He's not enticed, not even for the long term.