Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway
reached a $1 trillion market capitalization on Wednesday, the first non-technology company in the U.S. to score the coveted milestone.
Shares of the Omaha-based conglomerate have rallied more than 28% in 2024, far above the S&P 500′s 18% gain. The $1 trillion threshold was crossed just two days before the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ turns 94 years old.
The shares were up 1.2% to hit a high of $699,440.93 on Wednesday, allowing it to top the $1 trillion mark, per FactSet.
Unlike the six other companies in the trillion dollar club (Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta), Berkshire is known for its old-economy focus as the owner of BNSF Railway, Geico Insurance and Dairy Queen. (Although its sizable Apple position has helped drive recent gains.)
The $1 trillion milestone “is a testament to the firm’s financial strength and franchise value,” said Cathy Seifert, Berkshire analyst at CFRA Research. “This is significant at a time when Berkshire represents one of the few remaining conglomerates in existence today.”
Buffett took control of Berkshire, a struggling textile business, in the 1960s and transformed the company into a sprawling empire that encompasses insurance, railroad, retail and energy with an unmatched balance sheet and cash fortress.
Buffett has been in a defensive mode as of late, dumping a massive amount of stock, including half of his Apple stake, while raising Berkshire’s cash pile to a record $277 billion at the end of June.
