When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This old adage rings true in today's volatile markets, as Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK) (NYSE:BRK) is on track for its strongest two-month performance relative to the S&P 500 since 2010.
The Omaha-based conglomerate surged 10.3% in February 2025, marking its best month since March 2022, and has gained another 2.5% in March.
Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), which tracks the broader market, declined 1.3% in February and has plunged nearly 5% in March.
This performance has widened Berkshire's outperformance over the S&P 500 to 20 percentage points since February, putting it on track for its best two-month run versus the index since February 2010.
In 2024, Berkshire Hathaway had only marginally outperformed the S&P 500 by 1.8 percentage points.
On Thursday, shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. New hit fresh record highs, closing at $528.73.
Buffett's Long-Term View Holds
The stock's momentum aligns with Buffett's long-standing investment philosophy, as outlined in Berkshire's latest annual letter to shareholders.
The 93-year-old billionaire emphasized the company's patient, long-term approach: "Over time, we think it highly likely that gains will prevail – why else would we buy these securities? – though the year-by-year numbers will swing wildly and unpredictably. Our horizon for such commitments is almost always far longer than a single year. In many, our thinking involves decades. These long-termers are the purchases that sometimes make the cash register ring like church bells."
Buffett also highlighted Berkshire's role as a major taxpayer, noting that the company has paid more in corporate income tax than any other U.S. firm in history, including tech giants with trillion-dollar valuations. In 2024 alone, Berkshire made four payments to the IRS totaling $26.8 billion, accounting for about 5% of all corporate taxes paid in the U.S.
Berkshire's Top Holdings
According to Berkshire's latest 13F filing as of December 2024, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) remained its largest holding, representing 28.1% of the company's portfolio. This was followed by American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP) at 16.8% and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) at 11.2%.
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