CNBC news anchor Becky Quick interviews Warren Buffett in early-2019.

James Campbell

2019-04-07 13:39:00 Sun ET

CNBC news anchor Becky Quick interviews Warren Buffett in early-2019. Buffett explains the fact that book value fluctuations are a metric that has lost relevance for Berkshire Hathaway over time. At least 3 circumstances lead to this outcome. First, Berkshire has gradually morphed from a company whose assets concentrate in marketable stocks into a unique public corporation whose major value resides in operating businesses. From a fundamental viewpoint, equity stakes represent key parts of corporate stock ownership and control as investors favor liquidity over managerial rent protection.

Second, the new U.S. accounting rules require the current collection of operating companies to be part of book value at a dollar sum far below their current market value. This gross undervaluation may mislead the typical retail investor.

Third, it is likely for Berkshire to reconsider significant share repurchases that take place at share prices above book value (but below the Buffett estimate of intrinsic value). Each share buyback boosts intrinsic value and also constrains the potential uptick of book value.

This combination of circumstances causes the book-value scorecard to become out of touch with economic reality. Buffett hence focuses on the Berkshire market capitalization, and this alternative better reflects business performance in practice.

 


If any of our AYA Analytica financial health memos (FHM), blog posts, ebooks, newsletters, and notifications etc, or any other form of online content curation, involves potential copyright concerns, please feel free to contact us at service@ayafintech.network so that we can remove relevant content in response to any such request within a reasonable time frame.

Blog+More

Former basketball star Shaq O'Neal learns a major money lesson from Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos.

Laura Hermes

2019-08-06 07:28:00 Tuesday ET

Former basketball star Shaq O'Neal learns a major money lesson from Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos.

Former basketball star Shaq O'Neal has almost quadrupled his net worth once he learns and applies an ingenious investment strategy from Amazon Founder J

+See More

Warren Buffett points out that American children will be better off than their parents in the next decades.

Dan Rochefort

2018-01-05 07:37:00 Friday ET

Warren Buffett points out that American children will be better off than their parents in the next decades.

Warren Buffett cleverly points out that American children will not only be better off than their parents, but the former will also enjoy higher living stand

+See More

Apple provides positive forward guidance on both revenue and profit forecasts for iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.

James Campbell

2019-02-09 08:33:00 Saturday ET

Apple provides positive forward guidance on both revenue and profit forecasts for iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.

Apple provides positive forward guidance on both revenue and profit forecasts for iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. In the Christmas 2018 festive season, MacBoo

+See More

Federal Reserve publishes its inaugural flagship financial stability report.

Peter Prince

2018-12-05 09:38:00 Wednesday ET

Federal Reserve publishes its inaugural flagship financial stability report.

Federal Reserve publishes its inaugural flagship financial stability report. Fed Chair Jerome Powell applauds both low inflation (2%) and low unemployment (

+See More

Joel Mokyr suggests that economic growth arises from a change in cultural beliefs toward technological progress.

John Fourier

2023-11-07 11:31:00 Tuesday ET

Joel Mokyr suggests that economic growth arises from a change in cultural beliefs toward technological progress.

Joel Mokyr suggests that economic growth arises from a change in cultural beliefs toward technological progress. Joel Mokyr (2018)   A culture

+See More

It can be practical for the U.S. to impose the 2% Warren wealth tax on the rich.

Dan Rochefort

2019-02-03 13:39:00 Sunday ET

It can be practical for the U.S. to impose the 2% Warren wealth tax on the rich.

It can be practical for the U.S. to impose the 2% wealth tax on the rich. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren proposes a 2% wealth tax on the richest Americ

+See More