Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-B)
Berkshire Hathaway is a massive conglomerate that owns a diverse collection of businesses, from insurance and energy to railways and retail.
Is Berkshire Hathaway Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?
The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: Extremely diversified business model. Worth weighing: No dividend payments to shareholders.
Is this normal for this company?
Each figure against the range this same company has produced recently. Neither end of a range is the good end.
Share price divided by the earnings actually reported over the four most recent quarters. The range is the same calculation at each of this company's last few results, so roughly the past year.
Profit as a share of sales, from the company's own quarterly statements. The range covers the 5 quarters we hold, and the figure shown is its most recent one.
How these ranges are built
Every number here is the company's own reported figure, not a comparison with other companies. The ranges come from this company's own results and its share price. Where it reports in a different currency from the one its shares trade in, the price-to-earnings range is left out rather than mixing the two.
What does Berkshire Hathaway Inc. do?
Think of Berkshire Hathaway as a giant, permanent investment fund run by a team that buys whole companies rather than just small slices of shares. Profits roll in from their various businesses, while cash from insurance operations gets invested into other successful firms. Much hinges on how they deploy their massive pile of cash and whether they keep finding new, large companies to add to their collection.
On our factor screen it looks strongest on growth and value, and weakest on income.
- !Pays no dividend - the whole return rides on the share price
- ✓Growing - revenue up about 10% over the year
- ✓Very profitable - turns about 22% of sales into profit
- ✓Low debt - a sturdier balance sheet
- —
- Income screens low
Does Berkshire Hathaway Inc. pay a dividend?
No - Berkshire Hathaway Inc. doesn't currently pay a dividend, so the whole return would rest on the share price. Plenty of growing companies reinvest their profits instead of paying them out - neither approach is better or worse, they're just different.
What do Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s numbers mean?
How has it performed?
Growth of £1,000, the worst fall, and year by year
Over about 2 years to 2026-09-11. This is the share price only; any dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.
How much has Berkshire Hathaway Inc. actually fallen?
Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. fell as much as −15% from a high to a later low. Falls like this are normal when you own a share.
Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.
How has it done year by year?
Calendar-year total return - the share price with dividends reinvested - from adjusted closing prices. The current year is only part-complete. Past returns are not a guide to the future.
A closer look at the numbers
Ownership, earnings history, where the money goes, and the outlook range
Does the share price tell you if it's cheap or expensive?
Who owns Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?
About 68% of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., or about 68 in every 100 shares, is held by big institutions such as pension and index funds. The rest, roughly 32%, is held by the public and smaller investors.
What this does and doesn't tell you
This is a recent snapshot of the share register, and it moves. We don't read anything into who owns what - a high institutional share is common for any large listed company and is not a signal about it.
Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.
Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.
How much money does Berkshire Hathaway Inc. make?
Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.
Where does each £100 of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s sales go?
A rough split of the latest full-year figures: of every £100 of sales, about £70 covers making the product or service, £8 goes on running costs, tax and interest, and about £22 is left as profit. Margins vary a lot by industry, and one-off items can distort a single year.
When does Berkshire Hathaway Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-11-07 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.
‘Beat’ and ‘missed’ are against what analysts expected, not whether the business is doing well.
| Reported | Expected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number. | Actual EPS | vs expected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-08 | $5.13 | $6.03 | Beat +17% |
| 2026-05-02 | $5.05 | $5.26 | Beat +4% |
| 2026-02-28 | $5.17 | $4.73 | Missed -8% |
| 2025-11-01 | $5.73 | $6.25 | Beat +9% |
| 2025-08-02 | $5.04 | $5.17 | Beat +3% |
| 2025-05-03 | $4.72 | $4.47 | Missed -5% |
Across the last 6 quarters here, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 4 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.
See who else reports over the next two weeks →
Where these figures come from
Each quarter a company reports its results against a consensus of analyst forecasts. The figures here are reported versus expected earnings per share from published results; the expectation is that analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates and can move.
What are the scenarios for Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?
An illustrative range for the year ahead — not a prediction or a price target.
What are the pros, cons and common questions?
The case each way, and the questions people ask
Continued compounding of value through smart capital allocation.
Significant decline in the value of their major equity holdings.
What are the pros and cons of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?
A balance check, not a score or verdict.
- Extremely diversified business model
- Massive cash reserves provide stability
- Lower volatility than the broader market
- No dividend payments to shareholders
- Size makes it difficult to grow quickly
- Complex structure can be hard to analyse
- Heavy reliance on the performance of a few large investments
- Potential for large insurance payouts due to natural disasters
- Succession planning for key leadership roles
The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.
- A major change in the company's long-term investment philosophy
- A sustained period of poor performance across core subsidiaries
Common questions about Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Does Berkshire Hathaway Inc. pay a dividend?
No - Berkshire Hathaway Inc. does not currently pay a dividend, so the return would rest on the share price. Many growing companies reinvest profits instead of paying them out.
When does Berkshire Hathaway Inc. report earnings next?
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is next scheduled to report results on about 2026-11-07. Report dates are estimates and can move; this is a diary note for when to look, not a forecast of the outcome.
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RIT Capital Partners PlcBuilt from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →
This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.