Chris Thom - CIM, DMS, FCSIBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (B)BRK.BBUYJul 31, 2025

Buffett was an allocator, Abel's an operator. Time will tell if it's just what the businesses need. Valuation's still fairly full. Nice suite of diversified businesses.

Results haven't been as stellar as some were expecting, insurance business and other parts haven't been tremendous. 

He's excited to see how it does under Greg Abel, who seems to be a terrific operator and is promising to use his salary to buy shares. Share buybacks restarted. Valuation quite attractive here. Betting on growth of the US, and that's a pretty safe bet.

By the way, Buffett's still coming to work every day. 

Diversified portfolio masquerading as a single stock. Insurance has been a long-standing pillar of the organization, potential cyclical headwinds brewing for P&C insurance. More competition on policy pricing. Lower interest rates will pressure its income from bond portfolios.

Great portfolio of iconic, buy-and-hold-forever businesses. On that basis, he could get behind buying this dip.

A top could be forming. We're seeing a series of lower highs over the past year. The stock is neutral with risk to the downside. If it falls below $450, it could be in trouble. There is weakness in insurance in recent months.

(Note the shortish timeframe.)  Earnings from a couple of weeks ago were a bit disappointing, revenues down across the board. New CEO says it's sticking to its principles. Over time, should rise again.

He sold it during the upside, based on technicals. He's not bearish BRK. The market is waiting to see how the new CEO will do. The chart is now consolidating, neither positive not negative. It's 50/50 whether the new CEO performs well.

How will they transition from Warren Buffet? New CEO Greg is putting his stamp on things, taking an activist stamp on companies like Kraft Heinz. He's a very capable executive. BRK is attractively valued now.

Warren Buffett is one of his all-time heroes. The first acquisition made by the "new" guy, Greg Abel, will be very much scrutinized. Reminds him of when Steve Jobs had to leave Apple -- there would never be another Steve Jobs. Tim Cook came in, not a visionary, but now people are worried about when Tim retires.

Phenomenal selection of assets. Abel's been there for many years. A company you can hold for a long time.

The new CEO seems very capable. MRK holds great assets and has a lot of cash. Doesn't think it will outperform the S&P, but there's little risk and has decent growth.

Biggest holding is Geico, which is insurance. Insurance companies are facing headwinds because of price competition -- can't raise prices by 15% a year as in the past. This will have a huge impact on BRK. Compounded by the selloff due to Buffett's retirement, and uncertainty on management moves going forward. As insurance goes, so will Berkshire.

Law of diminishing returns again. Sitting on so much cash, but it's so big that it's very difficult to make acquisitions that will move the needle. ROIC is 8%, but so is its cost of capital. Needs to get its bottom line growing again. He's wary.

A great investor and great human being. His main claim to fame is using coming sense when making deals. He expects the new managers to do a fabulous job, but they can't live up to Buffet and Munger. The stock has a lot of cash to make interesting acquisitions. He would own companies that BRK owns.

It's slightly better than a show-me stock. They have legacy businesses. But they are losing Buffett and they lost Munger. This is the most significant change in a company. He'd rather own a combination of the S&P and Nasdaq.

You must give tremendous credit to the work that Warren Buffet and his team have done this year. He's setting the team that replaces him with flexibility; they have over $300 billion in cash, have no concentration risk and are in a great position if there is a serious market decline in the coming year or so.

Target price only ~3% higher than where it's trading. A few analysts have it as a Sell or Underperform, which means that the index is expected to beat it. Being treated less like a stock and more like a safe-haven equity. Investors like the simplicity, that it's cash rich, the balance sheet, and diversified earnings. Its theme of quality businesses with steady cashflow plays well when growth gets choppy.

Stock reflects trust and durability, not excitement or aggressive growth. Works when investors want stability, capital preservation, and long-term compounding. Still sees momentum, but not huge growth.