Investors who owned stocks in the 2010s generally experienced some large gains. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500s (NYSE: SPY) the total return for the decade was 250.5%. But there is no question that some stocks with big names did much better than others along the way.
Berkshire’s Difficult Decade: One underperformer of the last decades was Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B).
Berkshire has struggled over the past decade to keep pace with a bull market driven by high-growth, high-valuation tech stocks. Buffett is one of the most iconic value investors of all time, but value stocks have underperformed in a climate of historically low interest rates and skyrocketing corporate debt.
One of Buffett’s best moves of the past 10 years was his decision to go all-in Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) in May 2016. Currently, Apple shares are trading at around $ 110 per share. About five years later, Apple now trades at $ 444 and it is by far the largest company in Berkshire, worth about $ 111.5 billion.
But Buffett has also had a lot of misteps in recent decades. Buffett invested in airline shares in 2016 only to sell them all in early 2020 near the bottom of the market during the COVID-19 sale.
Berkshire’s B shares began trading in 2010 at around $ 70 after a 50-to-1 split in early 2010. Berkshire hit a low of $ 65.35 in late decades in late 2011. Berkshire shares then began a steady March higher over the next three years, peaking late at $ 152.94 in late 2014.
From there, Berkshire spent most of the next two years sideways in a wide range of between $ 125 and $ 150. The stock finally broke to the end in 2016.
2020 And beyond: Berkshire finally ended at $ 231.61 in early 2020, its peak of the last 10 years. However, Berkshire shares were hammered in early 2020 during the broad market COVID-19 sell-off, and the stock fell to as low as $ 159.50, its lowest point since 2017. While the stock has since returned to around $ 210, it has still delivered the full performance in the past 10 years.
In fact, $ 1,000 worth of Berkshire shares in 2010 would be worth over $ 2,614 today, assuming there are reinvested dividends.
Outlook analysts expect to recover from the Berkshire climb in the coming months. The average price target among the three analysts covering the stock is $ 223.45, suggesting 6.7% upside from current levels.
President Barack Obama meets with Warren Buffett at the Oval Office in 2011. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.
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