Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, conglomerate holding giant Berkshire Hathaway
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Berkshire's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Berkshire facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Omaha, Neb. (1889) |
| Market Cap | $199.8 billion |
| Industry | Conglomerates |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $137.9 billion |
| Management |
Chairman/CEO Warren Buffett (since 1970) Vice Chairman Charles Munger (since 1978) |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | 6.8% |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 98% of the 5,839 members who have rated Berkshire believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Elijahnu and Allspeed.
Just last month, Elijahnu tapped Berkshire as a particularly wise choice:
This company is managed well and continues to grow. It makes smart acquisitions, and it does so thoughtfully and with insight. I think that this company is a must-have for almost any portfolio.
Over the past five years, in fact, Berkshire has grown its common equity at a solid rate of 10.9% annually. That's faster than other gorilla industrial conglomerates like General Electric
CAPS member Allspeed elaborates on the Berkshire bull case:
[Berkshire Hathaway] has a history of buying good, high performance companies and recognizes one important fact. The businesses were performing above average when bought for a reason ... good management. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The CEO's of those companies will do their best to provide the performance that BH demands and, importantly, allows them to control. By operating untethered. ... In that scenario, the continued success of BH is assured. When Buffett retires, the genius of Omaha will continue, because the genius is in the mix.
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