Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A -0.28%) (BRK.B -0.68%) share price has climbed by more than 2,525,500%since CEO Warren Buffett purchased control of the company in May 1965. With such staggeringly successful performance, that means that a $1,000 position taken in the company back then would be worth more than $25.26 million if you were lucky and wise enough to hold on to it through the years.
With that kind of incredible, world-beating track record, it's little wonder that so many people turn to Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway when they're looking for investing advice, guidance, and inspiration. If you've got your core financial bases covered and have additional money available to invest, here's why taking a buy-and-hold approach with these two Buffett-backed stocks would be a great move.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
1. Amazon
Amazon (AMZN -1.64%) is one of the strongest, most innovative companies in the world, but you might not guess it from its recent stock performance. The tech giant's last quarterly earnings release triggered a big sell-off for the stock, and the company's share price has been driven even lower by a weakening near-term economic outlook and other trends shaping valuations for growth stocks.
It's not too hard to see why investors have been disappointed with Amazon lately. At the midpoint, management's guidance calls for just 4.8% year-over-year sales growth in Q4, down from 15% last quarter and growth of 9% in Q4 2021. Expectations for fourth-quarter operating income also point to a continued drop off in profitability, with guidance for operating income of $2 billion (again, at the midpoint) coming in well below the $3.5 billion in operating income the company posted in the prior-year quarter.
There's no question that this near-term performance outlook is much weaker than the market has become accustomed to from Amazon, but with the share price down by 47% year to date and 53% from its high, the tech titan looks like a great buy-and-hold investment. While the company's e-commerce segment has been facing margin pressures and relatively weak growth due to a combination of tough bases of comparison, the evaporation of pandemic-driven tailwinds, and other factors, Amazon still has a seemingly unshakeable leadership position in an online-retail industry that remains poised for big growth over the long term.
The company also retains its leadership position in the higher-growth, higher-margin cloud infrastructure services space, and that segment should continue to deliver strong performance through the next decade and beyond.
Trading at less than 1.8 times this year's expected sales, Amazon stands out as an opportune long-term investment at its current valuation.
2. Berkshire Hathaway
Overseen by Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway is led by one of the best moneymaking duos in history. It's also guided by seasoned analyst teams that help identify opportunities that may be outside the expertise of those two investing luminaries. If you're looking to invest like Buffett and Munger, buying Berkshire Hathaway stock is arguably the best way to do it. Owning a position in the company is literally a ticket to having investing legends managing your money.
In addition to Berkshire Hathaway's fully owned business subsidiaries, which include big-name companies such as Geico, Duracell, and BNSF Railway, the investment conglomerate also has a large portfolio of stock holdings. Its largest stock holdings include Apple, Bank of America, Chevron, Coca-Cola, and American Express, but while the company has continued to make big investments through periods of market volatility, lately, it has been most enthusiastic about buying back its own stock.
Buffett's big buyback push continued last quarter, during which the investment conglomerate repurchased $1 billion worth of its stock. Over the last four years, it has bought back approximately $63 billion of its stock. By reducing its shares outstanding, it has created a positive earnings-per-share catalyst, and that's proven to be a smart move. Berkshire Hathaway has significantly outperformed the S&P 500 index so far this year.
But despite being up nearly 1% year to date, Berkshire Hathaway stock is still down roughly 16% from its peak due to themacroeconomic pressures and volatility that have shaped trading in the broader market. Thankfully, it remains well positioned for long-term success even if turbulence further rattles the market in the near term, and there's a very good chance that the conglomerate's stock will go on to reach new heights.
