Buffett's Berkshire bursts into the trillion-dollar club

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. became the first US company outside of the tech sector to surpass $1 trillion in market value.

Shares of Warren Buffett’s conglomerate rose as much as 0.8% on Wednesday to push its market capitalization above the trillion-dollar mark for the first time. The stock has rallied this year on strong insurance results and economic optimism. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company joins the ranks of a small group to crack the milestone, dominated by technology giants like Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Nvidia Corp.  

“Berkshire has done it the slower, but more sure, way,” said Steve Check, the founder and chief investment officer of Check Capital Management. His firm has about $2 billion in assets under management, with Berkshire as their largest holding. “It’s harder to make money the old-fashioned way.”

Berkshire’s rally this year has outpaced the S&P 500’s gains, with the company off to one of its best annual starts in a decade. It’s gained 30% in 2024, while the market benchmark is up 18%. The company isn’t that far behind the so-called Magnificent Seven: a gauge of the biggest tech stocks is up 35% this year.

Buffett has spent the bulk of his life turning Berkshire Hathaway from a struggling textile maker into a sprawling business empire. He shaped the company alongside longtime business partner Charlie Munger, who died in November at age 99. 

Berkshire’s market value climbed by roughly 20% a year from 1965 through last year — nearly double the S&P 500’s annual return in that time. That’s turned Buffett into one of the richest people in the world, and perhaps the most prolific investor ever. 

The conglomerate’s strength comes as optimism for the economy builds, with the Federal Reserve expected to cut interest rates at its September meeting. Consumer confidence rose to a six-month high in August. Berkshire’s businesses span from truck stop operator Pilot Travel Centers LLC to ice cream chain Dairy Queen and battery brand Duracell. 

The stock has added more than $200 billion in market capitalization this year alone — a record for the firm, but a sharp contrast to Nvidia’s nearly $2 trillion increase. Berkshire’s rally has pushed it into overbought territory, based on the relative strength index, and prompted a bit of reticence from analysts.

The fundamental outlook for Berkshire’s core businesses isn’t necessarily that much brighter ahead, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Palazola, but the firm boasts an “all-weather” portfolio. 

Meanwhile, lower interest rates could impact returns on the record cash pile Berkshire amassed while slashing its Apple Inc. stake and paring its Bank of America Corp. holdings. Buffett’s cash heap stood at about $276.9 billion in second-quarter results reported in early August. The sheer size of the Apple stake had become a worry, Check said, and the move to reduce that exposure was prudent. “It’s taken a lot of that risk off the table,” Check said.