Stockchase Opinions

Josh Brown, CEO, Ritholtz Wealth Management Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (B) BRK.B-N BUY May 07, 2025

Warren Buffett announced he will step down as CEO

The end of Buffett's reign as CEO has been an overhang for many years, but it hasn't mattered because shares have performed so well. This is as good of a transition plan and exit that he has ever seen anywhere, at any company. Buffett painstakingly worked on this transition for years. Shares remain at record highs. He remains a forever shareholder. Buffett is the GOAT and belongs on Mount Rushmore alone. There's nobody like him.

$518.220

Stock price when the opinion was issued

insurance
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PARTIAL BUY

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.

HOLD

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

DON'T BUY

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.

DON'T BUY

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.

BUY

Likes it. Smartest people in the room, as they were raising cash before the markets went down earlier this year. Buffett's leaving, but has built a pretty deep bench. If it never did another deal, its many legacy brands are really great producers. Doesn't pay a distribution, but owns a bunch of really-high-cashflowing businesses.

TOP PICK

Investment portfolio consisting of public stocks and private companies. His firm really likes private equity. Stock dipped when handover to new CEO was announced, but nothing else has changed. That's why he likes the stock now. Greg Abel's been there since 2011 under Buffett's tutelage, so it should be smooth sailing. He sees a parallel with AAPL, when Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs. 

Doesn't pay a dividend, but will generate a quarter billion dollars in dividends alone this year, which get reinvested back into the business. That's pretty decent growth right there.

(Analysts’ price target is $524.20)
COMMENT

Saturday sees the latest results. Enough with the negativity. BRK holds amazing properties, even if Warren Buffet is stepping back as CEO. If they have a good quarter, the stock will run.

BUY

The genius running their insurance business remains--business as usual. No, there won't be another Buffett or Munger, but their successor is well-train and hope he was the right choice. Look at Apple: Tim Cook put his own stamp on the company. He remain comfortable owning BRK.

DON'T BUY

Doesn't know why people are buying and selling daily. Gives you exposure to broad, global markets with significant overweight to the US. You're trusting them to invest your $$ better than you can. Over long periods of time, proven to be no different than buying a large-scale, low-cost index fund. 

20, 30, 40 years ago, they were much smaller and made a difference. So big now that they can't make enough of a difference in buying good companies and have them be accretive. Well run, and the pedigree's there. Great holding if you're looking for something with a value tilt. No dividend.

BUY

Strip out the stock portfolio, and its operating business is very cheap at 12-13x PE.