Munger Mode rating: 4 out of 5 — Buy. Our own rating from the research report below, on business quality first: moat durability and management, with price separating the top three.
A word before we begin. We are being asked to grade our own homework, and Charlie always said that a man who serves as his own appraiser has a fool for a client. So we have tried to write this the way we would write about any other trillion-dollar conglomerate run by a fellow named Abel: relying only on the filings, the numbers, and the current price, and applying the same yardsticks we would apply to anyone else. Where our judgment might be flattered by familiarity, we have leaned the other way. Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company with four engines, each simple on its own even if the consolidated 10-K runs long. Insurance is the heart of the machine. GEICO in personal auto, Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group in commercial lines, and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance in the kind of jumbo, long-tail risks few others can write.
Stock screener · Superinvestor 13F holdings · Analyst sentiment · Market valuation