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

Facebook introduces a new cryptocurrency Libra as a fresh medium of exchange for e-commerce.

Dan Rochefort

2019-07-21 09:37:00 Sunday ET

Facebook introduces a new cryptocurrency Libra as a fresh medium of exchange for e-commerce.

Facebook introduces a new cryptocurrency Libra as a fresh medium of exchange for e-commerce. Libra will be available to all the 2 billion active users on Fa

+See More

President Trump warns Google, Facebook, and Twitter that these tech titans now tread on troublesome territory.

Daphne Basel

2018-08-25 12:33:00 Saturday ET

President Trump warns Google, Facebook, and Twitter that these tech titans now tread on troublesome territory.

President Trump warns Google, Facebook, and Twitter that these tech titans now tread on troublesome territory. Specifically, Trump accuses Google of rigging

+See More

Blackrock asset research director Andrew Ang shares his economic insights into fundamental factors for global asset management.

Apple Boston

2019-07-29 11:33:00 Monday ET

Blackrock asset research director Andrew Ang shares his economic insights into fundamental factors for global asset management.

Blackrock asset research director Andrew Ang shares his economic insights into fundamental factors for global asset management. As Ang indicates in an inter

+See More

Donald Trump defies the odds to become the new U.S. president.

John Fourier

2016-11-08 00:00:00 Tuesday ET

Donald Trump defies the odds to become the new U.S. president.

Donald Trump defies the odds to become the new U.S. president. He wants to make America great again. He seeks to repeal Obamacare. He has zero tole

+See More

President Donald Trump releases his plan to slash income taxes for U.S. citizens and corporations.

Jacob Miramar

2017-09-03 10:44:00 Sunday ET

President Donald Trump releases his plan to slash income taxes for U.S. citizens and corporations.

President Donald Trump has released his plan to slash income taxes for U.S. citizens and corporations. The corporate income tax rate will decline from 35% t

+See More

Investing in stocks is the best way for people to become self-made millionaires.

James Campbell

2019-06-25 10:34:00 Tuesday ET

Investing in stocks is the best way for people to become self-made millionaires.

Investing in stocks is the best way for people to become self-made millionaires. A recent Gallup poll indicates that only 37% of young Americans below the a

+See More