BRK-B
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Financial Services · Insurance - Diversified · United States · Stock
Score Breakdown
Scored for Safe Long-Term Investing profile
Sub-scores are 0–20 each; Model Score is weighted by your selected investment goal. How it works →
Why Ranked Here
- The composite score of 45.8/100 is anchored primarily by the perfect financial health sub-score of 20.0/20, which reflects Berkshire's exceptional balance sheet metrics as reported in its SEC 10-K filing, providing a strong foundation.
- The profitability sub-score of 14.8/20 adds meaningful contribution, reflecting solid aggregate margins across Berkshire's diversified operating businesses as captured in the FY2025 filing.
- The score is held to the mid-range by low growth (7.0/20) and momentum (5.8/20) sub-scores, with zero contribution from dividend (0.0) and theme (0.0) categories, which together represent 40 potential points that BRK-B does not capture.
Why Not Higher
- The dividend sub-score of 0.0/20 and theme sub-score of 0.0/20 together represent up to 40 points of potential scoring that BRK-B does not contribute — Berkshire's no-dividend policy and the absence of identified macro thematic exposures in its filing data structurally cap the composite score.
- The growth sub-score of 7.0/20 and momentum sub-score of 5.8/20 indicate that the filing data did not support strong year-over-year or sequential improvement in revenue, earnings, or margins, preventing the model from rewarding the company for near-term earnings acceleration.
Data Confidence
8 / 10
High — most data fields present
Research Summary
AI-generated analysis reflects data and conditions as of the report date shown above. Verify any specific figures through primary sources before acting on this analysis.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is one of the world's largest diversified holding companies, operating across insurance (GEICO, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance), railroads (BNSF), utilities (Berkshire Hathaway Energy), manufacturing, retail, and a vast portfolio of equity investments in publicly traded companies. Its business model is built on generating float from insurance underwriting and deploying that capital across wholly owned subsidiaries and equity positions, creating a compounding engine that has been central to its identity for decades. The FY2025 10-K filing drives the model score of 45.8/100, a figure that reflects genuine financial strength in some dimensions but notable structural limitations in others as captured by the scoring model. The financial health sub-score of 20.0 out of 20 is a standout, reflecting Berkshire's fortress-like balance sheet — its leverage ratios and interest coverage metrics, as derived from SEC EDGAR filings, are among the strongest possible for a financial services firm of this scale. Profitability also contributes meaningfully at 14.8/20, consistent with Berkshire's historically strong net and operating margins across its diversified operating subsidiaries. However, the growth sub-score of 7.0/20 and momentum sub-score of 5.8/20 weigh heavily on the composite, suggesting that year-over-year revenue, net income, and EPS growth — as well as quarterly improvement trends — were not strong in the reported period. The dividend sub-score of 0.0 reflects Berkshire's well-known policy of not paying a common dividend, and the theme sub-score of 0.0 indicates the model did not identify meaningful macro thematic tailwinds from the filing data. The core research tradeoff here is between exceptional financial stability and a lack of near-term growth or income signals in the filing data. The model labels this a 'Research Further' candidate best suited to a safe long-term investing goal profile, where the emphasis is on capital preservation and steady compounding rather than high-growth or income generation. Researchers weighing this name must reconcile a near-perfect balance sheet profile against subdued growth momentum and the complete absence of dividend income as measured from SEC filings.
Plain English
Berkshire Hathaway is a giant American conglomerate that owns dozens of well-known businesses — including GEICO insurance, the BNSF railroad, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy — and also holds large stakes in other major companies. The model score of 45.8 out of 100 reflects a company with an extraordinarily strong balance sheet and solid profitability, but with weak recent growth trends and no dividend payments, which limits the total score. The Low risk rating means the filing data shows minimal financial distress risk — Berkshire carries very manageable debt relative to its enormous asset base. For a researcher focused on long-term stability rather than rapid growth, this profile may warrant further investigation.
Bull Case vs. Bear Case
Bull Case
- The financial health sub-score of 20.0/20 — the maximum possible — signals that Berkshire's balance sheet, leverage ratios, and interest coverage as reported in its FY2025 10-K are exceptionally strong, providing a structural foundation that distinguishes it from most financial services peers.
- A profitability sub-score of 14.8/20 indicates that Berkshire's diversified operating subsidiaries — spanning insurance underwriting, railroads, utilities, and manufacturing — are generating solid net and operating margins in aggregate as captured in the filing data.
- The model's best scoring profile for this company is 'safe long-term investing' at 58.5, suggesting that researchers with a capital-preservation orientation would find the filing-derived fundamentals more aligned with their criteria than the composite score alone implies.
Bear Case
- The growth sub-score of 7.0/20 indicates that year-over-year revenue, net income, and EPS growth were relatively weak in the FY2025 filing period, raising questions about Berkshire's ability to compound earnings at a pace meaningful enough to justify its scale.
- The momentum sub-score of 5.8/20 reflects limited quarterly improvement in revenue, earnings, and margins as derived from SEC filing data, suggesting that recent operating trends within the reporting period were not accelerating.
- The dividend sub-score of 0.0/20 reflects Berkshire's longstanding policy of retaining all earnings rather than distributing dividends, meaning researchers seeking income generation from this holding will find no filing-supported dividend track record.
What Could Change the Picture
Bullish Triggers
- A material improvement in the growth sub-score — driven by accelerating year-over-year revenue and net income growth in future SEC filings — would signal that Berkshire's capital deployment is generating measurable earnings expansion, strengthening the research case.
- An increase in the momentum sub-score through consistent quarterly improvement in operating margins or earnings across multiple business segments would suggest that the operating environment for Berkshire's subsidiaries is improving, which could lift the composite score meaningfully.
Bearish Triggers
- A deterioration in the financial health sub-score — currently a perfect 20.0/20 — caused by increased leverage, reduced interest coverage, or material balance sheet stress in future 10-K filings would undermine the primary pillar supporting BRK-B's research case.
- A decline in the profitability sub-score driven by compressed underwriting margins at GEICO or Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance, or by margin deterioration at BNSF or Berkshire Hathaway Energy as reported in future SEC filings, would weaken the fundamental earnings quality argument.
Red Flags
- The combination of a low growth sub-score (7.0/20) and low momentum sub-score (5.8/20) from the FY2025 10-K suggests that Berkshire's recent earnings and revenue trajectory may be decelerating, which for a conglomerate of this size could indicate difficulty finding sufficiently large capital deployment opportunities.
- The theme sub-score of 0.0/20 indicates that the model identified no macro thematic exposures in the filing data — such as AI, clean energy, or infrastructure — which may limit near-term narrative-driven research interest despite the company's utility and energy holdings.
Risk Profile
Low RiskThe Low risk rating reflects Berkshire Hathaway's filing-derived balance sheet characteristics — specifically its maximum financial health sub-score of 20.0/20 — indicating that leverage, interest coverage, and overall balance sheet resilience as reported in the FY2025 10-K present minimal financial distress risk relative to the universe of scored companies. For a diversified financial services and insurance conglomerate of Berkshire's scale, this rating is consistent with its long-established practice of maintaining substantial liquidity reserves and conservative debt management.
Key Catalysts to Watch
Key factors to monitor in future SEC filings include trends in insurance underwriting profitability — particularly at GEICO and the reinsurance operations — and capital deployment decisions that could drive meaningful growth and momentum sub-score improvements. Researchers should also watch for any shift in Berkshire's capital return policy, as even an initiation of a measured dividend program would unlock a currently zero-weighted scoring dimension and materially affect the composite model score.
This report is for educational and research purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice — always conduct your own due diligence before making investment decisions.