1 Reason to Buy Warren Buffett's Company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B)

Key Points

• Owning Berkshire Hathaway means owning a wide variety of businesses.

• Many of those businesses are recession-resistant, too.

• For long-term investors, the stock price is reasonable at recent levels.

• 10 stocks we like better than Berkshire Hathaway ›

When you survey the thousands of companies in the stock market, looking for an investment that might build your wealth over the long term, give some consideration to Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B).

It has an amazing track record, as Buffett, in concert with his late business partner Charlie Munger, increased the value of the company by 5,500,000% (nearly 20% annually) over 60 years. In contrast, the S&P 500 index of 500 of America's biggest companies gained about 39,000% (10.4% annually, on average) -- which is still a solid performance.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Why invest in Berkshire now? Well, it's reasonably valued. Its recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 23.6 is a bit above its five-year average of 21.0, and its price-to-sales ratio, recently 2.5, is a bit above the five-year average of 2.2. This suggests that Berkshire isn't a screaming buy right now, but the price is within reason for long-term investors.

If you invest in Berkshire, you'll get a lot for your money. You'll become a part-owner of scores of businesses owned by Berkshire, such as GEICO, Benjamin Moore, See's Candies, and the entire BNSF railroad. You'll have a stake in Berkshire's stock portfolio, too, with major positions in companies such as Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Bank of America.

The company is simply built to last, with much of its value in resilient industries such as energy, insurance, and transportation. It's worth noting that Buffett, at age 95, will be stepping down from the CEO post at the end of the year, though he'll remain involved. He has long planned for this transition and has named longtime Berkshire executive Greg Abel to take the reins. He has two capable investing lieutenants as well.

Berkshire's future may be different from its past, but it still looks promising. If at some point Abel sees Berkshire with much more cash than it can use effectively, a dividend might even appear.

Should you invest $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway right now?

Before you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Berkshire Hathaway wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,064,820!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025

Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Selena Maranjian has positions in Apple and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.