What is Warren Buffett's most profitable investment?

Technically, the most profitable investment Buffett has ever made is Berkshire Hathaway itself, acquiring a controlling stake in the 1960s when it was just a struggling textile company. Other than that, investing in Apple was a highly profitable investment for Buffett and his team, earning a profit well over $100 billion.

What ETF does Warren Buffett recommend?

Warren Buffett has said that a low-cost S&P 500 index fund is the best investment most Americans can make. He's owned the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) previously in Berkshire's portfolio.

Is Warren Buffett's investment strategy still relevant today?

Many of Buffett's investment principles are timeless, such as the concept of identifying great businesses at fair prices and holding onto them for as long as they remain great businesses. The stock market has certainly evolved and become more efficient over the years, but much of Buffett's investing wisdom remains applicable.

Does Warren Buffett invest in cryptocurrency?

Warren Buffett does not invest in cryptocurrency. In fact, he has been rather outspoken about his lack of enthusiasm for the space and has warned investors against buying it.

How much did Warren Buffett invest in Apple?

It's impossible to know for sure what Berkshire Hathaway paid for Apple stock, since the investment was made over a period of years. We also have no idea how much Warren Buffett paid each time. However, it is estimated that Buffett invested a total of approximately $40 billion in Apple, with the investment reaching a peak value of more than $150 billion before Berkshire began reducing its exposure.

What are Warren Buffett's five rules of investing?

Some of Warren Buffett's top rules of investing include (but are not limited to):Approach investing with a long-term mentality.Focus on buying wonderful businesses at fair prices.Hold your stocks for as long as they remain wonderful businesses.Look for bargains when most investors are panicking.Don't be afraid to sell if your investment thesis isn't working.

How to Invest Like Warren Buffett: Billionaire Investor

Warren Buffett's Investment Strategy

By Matthew Frankel, CFP – Updated Dec 23, 2025 at 7:53 PM EST | Fact-checked by Frank Bass

Key Points

Warren Buffett values long-term holdings in high-quality, undervalued companies.
He avoids trendy stocks and focuses on stable industries with intrinsic value.
Buffett emphasizes a calm temperament and independent thinking in investment decisions.

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Warren Buffett smiling. — Image source: The Motley Fool.

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Intrinsic Value

The intrinsic value of a stock is its true value. It refers to what a stock (or any asset, for that matter) is actually worth -- even if some investors think it's worth a lot more or less than that am

1. Look for a margin of safety.

In simple terms, a margin of safety refers to characteristics of an investment that help to protect investors from losing money.

For example, if a stock trades for $10 per share, but the company's assets are realistically worth $12 per share, that provides a margin of safety. The intrinsic value of the assets should prevent the company's stock price from falling too far. Or if it falls, the stock will become more attractive.

Buffett's goal is always to pay less than a company's intrinsic value.

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2. Focus on quality.

Warren Buffett doesn't invest in junk. Early in his career, he would often focus on businesses that were in decline but still had some value. But this changed decades ago.

You typically won't see Buffett buying struggling businesses, regardless of how cheap they become. One of the best Buffett quotes new investors can absorb is, "It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

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3. Don't follow the crowd.

Here's another piece of Buffett advice that is extremely important for beginner investors, especially in the modern age of Reddit (RDDT -3.60%) message boards: Don't buy certain stocks just because everyone else is buying them or talking about them. On the other hand, do not aim to always be a contrarian and sell the stocks that everyone else is buying.

As Buffett does, the best way to invest is to ignore the crowd entirely and focus on finding value independently.

He also says, "The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect. You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd."

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4. Don't fear market crashes and corrections.

The obvious goal of stock investing is to buy low and sell high, but human nature can compel us to do the exact opposite.

Here's what I mean by that. When we see all of our friends and colleagues making money, that's when we feel like we should try to make money, too. We are tempted to invest our money in stocks.

And when stock markets crash, it's our nature to wait it out on the sidelines. So, it's tempting to sell "before things get any worse."

Buffett loves it when stock prices drop since it creates opportunities to buy at a discount. This is why Buffett was extremely active in the stock market in the years immediately following the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Buffett takes advantage of discounts on his favorite stocks. As he says, "Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble."

5. Approach your investments with a long-term mindset.

One of the most important Warren Buffett quotes on investing that you can take in is, "If you aren't willing to own a stock for 10 years, don't even think about owning it for 10 minutes."

He doesn't choose stocks just because he thinks their prices are going to rise this week, this month, or even this year. Buffett buys stocks because he wants to own those businesses for the long term. To be clear, in practice, Buffett sells stocks frequently, but he approaches most of his investments with the mindset of holding them for the long term.

It's also worth noting that if you can't adopt a "forever" mentality with your stocks, Buffett argues that one of the best investments most people can make is a set-it-and-forget-it investment, such as an S&P 500 index fund.

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6. Don't be afraid to sell if the scenario changes.

A famous Warren Buffett quote from when he was asked about an investment he decided to sell at a loss is, "The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging."

While he certainly wants to own every stock he buys forever, the reality is that outlooks change.

Here's a great example. It might surprise you to learn that Buffett bought a large position in mortgage agency Freddie Mac (FMCC -3.30%) a couple of decades ago. A few years before the 2008-09 financial crisis, he noticed that the lender's management had started taking unnecessary risks with the company's capital and decided to sell. When the financial crisis hit, it became clear that Buffett had made a smart move.

7. Learn the basics of value investing.

Warren Buffett is widely regarded as the world's greatest value investor. Value investing prioritizes paying low prices for investments relative to their intrinsic values.

A value investor's goal is essentially to buy $100 worth of a company's stock for less than $100 -- ideally, much less.

Value investors seek out and invest in companies with intrinsic values that are well above the enterprise values implied by the prices at which the companies' stocks trade. Value investors, such as Buffett, expect the market to eventually recognize the full value of an undervalued company, resulting in an increase in the company's stock price and a profit for the value investor.

8. Understand compounding.

Warren Buffett is perhaps the best example of the power of long-term compounding.

Buffett uses compound interest, dividend reinvestment, and the power of constantly reinvesting the operating cash flow generated by Berkshire's businesses to his advantage. How powerful is this? Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A +0.50%) (BRK.B +0.45%) has averaged a 19.9% annualized return from the time Buffett took over in 1964 through the end of 2024, compared with 10.4% for the S&P 500.

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NYSE: BRKB

Berkshire Hathaway

Today's Change

(0.45%) $2.28

Current Price

$504.95

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$1.1T

Day's Range

$501.29 - $506.48

52wk Range

$455.19 - $542.07

Volume

258K

Avg Vol

4.6M

Gross Margin

24.85%

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This may not sound too spectacular until you realize that, over time, this has resulted in a 5,502,284% total gain for shareholders versus 39,054% for the S&P 500.

9. Research and reflect.

Although he doesn't have quite the stamina or energy that he once did (he is in his mid-90s, after all), Buffett regularly spent long days in his office in Omaha, Neb., throughout his career.

It often surprises investors to learn that he spent the majority of his time just sitting alone and reading, or just contemplating investment strategies. He's been quoted as saying, "I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think."

Buffett views knowledge as something that compounds over time, and he believes that much of his success can be attributed to accumulating as much investment knowledge as possible.

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Ticker Information Table
Name and ticker	Market cap	Dividend yield	Industry
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)	$3.9 trillion	0.39%	Technology Hardware, Storage and Peripherals
American Express (NYSE:AXP)	$212.1 billion	1.06%	Consumer Finance
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO)	$350.8 billion	2.50%	Beverages
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)	$359.4 billion	2.17%	Banks
Chevron (NYSE:CVX)	$372.7 billion	3.70%	Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels

Data as of Feb 28, 2026. Showing 5 of 5 tickers.

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NASDAQ: AAPL

Apple

Today's Change

(-3.40%) $-9.27

Current Price

$263.68

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$3.9T

Day's Range

$262.89 - $272.83

52wk Range

$169.21 - $288.62

Volume

2.4M

Avg Vol

48M

Gross Margin

47.33%

Dividend Yield

0.39%

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The tech giant's stock is the largest holding in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio, even after being trimmed significantly in recent years. Berkshire owns 1.6% of Apple’s stock, which was worth more than $66 billion as of December 2025. Buffett loves Apple (AAPL -3.21%) not only for its "sticky" customers -- it's tough to imagine a company with a more loyal customer base -- but also for its pricing power and top-notch leadership.

2. American Express

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NYSE: AXP

American Express

Today's Change

(-8.16%) $-27.37

Current Price

$307.95

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$212B

Day's Range

$307.67 - $321.01

52wk Range

$220.43 - $387.49

Volume

379K

Avg Vol

3.1M

Gross Margin

60.65%

Dividend Yield

1.06%

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One of Berkshire's largest investments, in terms of percentage of ownership, is American Express (AXP -8.16%) stock; the company holds 22% of it, which is worth approximately $58 billion at the time of this writing. Buffett has held its stock for more than 30 years. He loves the company's valuable brand and its role as both a payment network and a lender in its transactions.

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3. Coca-Cola

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NYSE: KO

Coca-Cola

Today's Change

(1.27%) $1.02

Current Price

$81.52

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$351B

Day's Range

$80.83 - $81.91

52wk Range

$65.35 - $82.00

Volume

866K

Avg Vol

18M

Gross Margin

61.75%

Dividend Yield

2.50%

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Berkshire is a major investor in the beverage giant, owning 9.3% -- worth approximately $28 billion at the time of this writing -- of the company's stock.

Buffett started accumulating Coca-Cola (KO +1.32%) stock in the late 1980s, and it's been one of his most successful long-term investments. In addition to being a devoted customer, Buffett appreciates Coca-Cola's brand power and massive distribution network, both of which provide it with competitive advantages over potential rivals.

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NYSE: BAC

Bank of America

Today's Change

(-4.98%) $-2.60

Current Price

$49.70

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$359B

Day's Range

$49.33 - $51.41

52wk Range

$33.06 - $57.55

Volume

2.5M

Avg Vol

40M

Dividend Yield

2.17%

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Berkshire owns 7.8% of Bank of America's (BAC -4.72%) stock, and it was the company's second-largest bank stock investment as of December 2025. This is an example of an investment that originated in a crisis, which is when Buffett tends to find his best opportunities. Even after selling a significant portion of the investment, Berkshire Hathaway's stake in the bank is worth more than six times what Buffett initially paid.

Buffett is a big fan of Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and the rest of the bank's management team. The company’s stock regularly trades at an implied valuation relative to the book value of its assets that is below that of its big-bank peers. Bank of America is also an excellent dividend stock, prioritizes share buybacks, and has grown at one of the fastest rates in its peer group in recent years.

5. Chevron

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NYSE: CVX

Chevron

Today's Change

(1.30%) $2.39

Current Price

$186.55

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$373B

Day's Range

$183.79 - $187.50

52wk Range

$132.04 - $187.90

Volume

431K

Avg Vol

10M

Gross Margin

14.66%

Dividend Yield

3.70%

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The newest addition to the top five is Chevron (CVX +1.41%), in which Buffett aggressively invested during the 2022 bear market. The stake has been trimmed slightly, and Berkshire now owns 6.1% of the energy giant, a stake valued at approximately $18 billion as of December 2025. Berkshire also owns several major energy subsidiaries, which aligns well with Buffett's affinity for the sector.

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Warren Buffett strategy FAQ

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About the Author

Matt Frankel, CFP, is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst and personal finance expert covering financial stocks, REITs, SPACs, and personal finance. Prior to The Motley Fool, Matt taught high school and college mathematics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of South Carolina, a master’s degree in mathematics from Nova Southeastern University, and a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University. He won a SABEW award for coverage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He is also regularly interviewed by Cheddar, The National Desk, and other TV networks and publications for his financial, stock market, and investing expertise.

TMFMattFrankel

@MattFrankelCFP

Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Matt Frankel, CFP has positions in American Express, Bank of America, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, and Chevron. The Motley Fool recommends Occidental Petroleum and Reddit. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.