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FRI, SEP 15, 2023
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Berkshire's market value tops $800B as shares hit new highs |
A series of new highs this week for both classes of Berkshire Hathaway's stock has brought the company's market value above $800 billion for the first time ever. It came very close to that mark in late March of 2022 before falling to its most recent low of $583 billion in mid-October. |
The A shares closed at record highs on Monday through Thursday of this week, topping the previous mark set early last month. The new record high close is $561,740. Although the stock ended lower today, it still set a new intraday high of $563,136.
It is up 26.4% from its near-term closing low of $442,765 on March 17. |
It's a similar story for the more widely held B shares.
They also set new record high closes on Monday through Thursday, ending that day at $369.50. Their intraday high of $370.84, however, occurred during Wednesday's trading.
Today's close of $367.86 is up 25.3% from the March low of $293.51. |
And as Barron's Andrew Bary points out, Berkshire hit a "trifecta" this week by also moving ahead of the S&P benchmark stock index on the year-to-date scoreboard. |
He writes that the move higher is "impressive," especially since shares of Apple, Berkshire's largest equity holding by far, have dropped more than 10% from the July high.
Bary says there has been no "notable" news on Berkshire since it reported stronger than expected operating earnings in early August, so it is "tough to know" why the stock is gaining other than its "long-standing attributes."
They include its "Fort Knox" balance sheet, strong earnings power, "powerhouse" insurance franchise, and the possibility of a big acquisition. |
Berkshire trims HP stake by 4.5% |
Berkshire has pared back its sizable stake in computer and printer maker HP that it first established in last year's first quarter as it went on a buying spree.
According to a filing late Wednesday, it sold a total of 5.5 million shares for $158.5 million over three days. That's an average price of $28.81, which appears to be a modest loss as the stock was trading in the $35 to $40 range during the period in which the purchases were made. Berkshire still held 115.5 million shares as of Wednesday, which is 11.7% of HP's outstanding shares. It remains the company's largest shareholder, ahead of Vanguard's 104 million shares. |
The stake is worth $3.2 billion at today's closing price of $27.34.
Already under pressure in recent weeks after disappointing revenues late last month, HP shares fell 3.5% over the two trading days following the filing. |
BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARCHIVE |
Why has Berkshire never bought Microsoft stock? |
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BERKSHIRE'S TOP U.S. STOCK HOLDINGS - Sep. 15, 2023 |
Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly-traded stocks in the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong, by market value, based on today's closing prices.
Holdings are as of June 30, 2023 as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing on August 14, 2023, except for: The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker. |
Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.) If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here.
Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly-recommended reading. There are collected here on Berkshire's website. -- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch |
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