Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 0.77%) (BRK.B 0.63%) is Warren Buffett's investment vehicle, and it's paved the way to wealth for many dedicated shareholders over the years. Here's a look at how well the company has done on the stock market across the past half-decade, and a glance at the reasons for its success.
A (very) long-term player
In that relatively short space of time, holding on to Berkshire's B shares would have doubled your money and then some. An initial $1,000 outlay as July 2020 came to a close would be worth $2,426 today.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Berkshire is essentially two monster businesses rolled into one -- an insurance conglomerate, anchored by sturdy sector mainstay Geico, and a collection of investments. The latter can be broken down into businesses fully owned by Berkshire (such as confectioner See's Candies) and a bulging portfolio of stakes in publicly traded companies.
The stock portfolio includes many well-known titles across a range of sectors. Nearly every investor will be familiar with such names as Apple, American Express, and Coca-Cola, among numerous others.
In many ways, Buffett and his team are the ultimate buy-and-hold investors. They have always preferred to zero in on an undervalued stock and keep it in the portfolio for years, even decades. In fact, that American Express holding dates back to 1964, for an astonishing run of more than 60 years. That Coca-Cola position, meanwhile, was first amassed in 1984.
Unsentimental about stocks
As with any portfolio, not all of Berkshire's holdings are winners. I'm thinking these days about such uninspiring companies as Kraft Heinz. But one of the many positive aspects of Berkshire's operations is that it's usually not averse to selling out of stocks, and relatively quickly, if they underperform.
Berkshire's excellent performance is the key reason why Buffett is such a celebrated investor. To me, it's always worthy of consideration as a buy on its own.
