Since Warren Buffett took over the company in 1965, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 0.35%) (BRK.B -0.16%) Made a lot of money for shareholders. With a CAGR of 19.8% between 1965 and 2022, the conglomerate is performing well against broader benchmarks S&P 500 IndexThe average increase was 9.9%.
Zooming in, Berkshire has also taken a number of moves in recent years, with its stock price hitting record highs. If you invested $2,000 in 2017, your investment today would be as follows.
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One of Berkshire’s big moves over the past six years has been to continue increasing its stake in the consumer tech giant. apple (U.S. Public Library -0.59%), Buffett first purchased in 2016. He has previously spoken about how he first became interested in Apple after noticing how distraught his friends were when they couldn’t find their iPhones.
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In 2017, Buffett and Berkshire got serious about Apple, increasing its position from 230 million shares at the end of 2016 to nearly 662 million shares at the end of 2017. Currently, Apple consumes more than 46% of Berkshire’s more than $375 billion stock portfolio.
This is a great investment for Berkshire. Since the start of 2017, Apple stock is up about 560%.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, given the drastic changes in the world, the way most investors invested changed dramatically. Berkshire Hathaway has made a number of big changes, including selling all of its airline stocks and lots of bank stocks.
Immediately after the outbreak, the group was patient, but then began drawing down some of its huge cash reserves. First, Berkshire has repurchased a significant amount of its own stock: nearly $25 billion in 2020 and more than $27 billion in 2021.
Then Berkshire started dabbling in other areas. The pandemic and Russia’s eventual invasion of Ukraine will kick off another big push into energy stocks and takeovers that ends up happening.Berkshire Hathaway to buy Dominion Energy in 2020, then take major stake in domestic U.S. oil producer western petroleum corp. and Chevron.
In 2022, Berkshire invested $60 billion in various stocks during the first six months of the year, excluding share sales.These new jobs include billions in stakes Citigroup, paramountand Activision Blizzard.
Berkshire Hathaway is also looking overseas, investing in a Brazilian fintech IPO Nu Holdings Established huge multi-billion dollar positions in five large trading companies in Japan. Buffett seems to like them because they remind him of Berkshire Hathaway.
If you invest $2,000 in Berkshire…
The past six years have been bumpy, especially given the state of the market since the pandemic began, but Berkshire Hathaway has done well. It has also proven rock solid when the market has struggled (like last year).
So if you invested $2,000 in Berkshire stock in early 2017, you would now have $4,277. If you had invested $2,000 in the broader benchmark S&P 500, you’d now have $3,972, making Berkshire stock an even better investment.
Citigroup is an advertising partner for The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Bram Berkowitz holds positions in Citigroup and Nu and owns the following options: Citigroup January 2024 $80 long call. The Motley Fool holds positions at Activision Blizzard, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway and recommends them. The Motley Fool recommends Chevron. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.