Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is entering one of the most important transitions in its history, and the stock is trading under a mix of excitement and unease.
As of midday U.S. trading on 9 December 2025, Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares (BRK.B) change hands at around $497, down roughly 1–1.5% on the day. Class A shares (BRK.A) trade near $745,000, also modestly lower.
At the same time, the conglomerate is:
- Preparing for Warren Buffett to step down as CEO at year‑end, with Greg Abel set to take over on 1 January 2026. [1]
- Managing a major leadership reshuffle, including the exit of key investment manager Todd Combs and the retirement of long‑time CFO Marc Hamburg. [2]
- Reporting strong Q3 2025 earnings, powered by a big jump in insurance underwriting profits. [3]
- Drawing mixed analyst views on valuation and forward returns, with price targets for BRK.B spanning everything from cautious to optimistic. [4]
Here’s how all of that fits together for investors watching Berkshire Hathaway stock on 9 December 2025.
1. Berkshire Hathaway stock today: BRK.A and BRK.B snapshot
Berkshire remains one of the world’s largest companies by market value, with a market capitalization just above $1 trillion. [5]
Recent data for BRK.A from TickerNerd and Berkshire’s own filings show: [6]
- Price: ~$745,000 per Class A share
- Market cap: ≈ $1.07 trillion
- Trailing price‑to‑earnings (P/E): ~16x
- Trailing 12‑month revenue: ≈ $372 billion
- Profit margin: about 18%
Class B shares represent a fraction of Class A — each B share is economically 1/1,500th of an A share, as Berkshire reiterates in its Q3 2025 press release. [7]
That structure is why BRK.B trades around $497, giving small investors access to essentially the same economic exposure as BRK.A without the eye‑watering headline price. [8]
In price terms, BRK.A has gained roughly 9–10% year‑to‑date while still sitting below its 52‑week high, according to recent analyst overviews. [9]
2. A historic leadership handover: Buffett to Abel
The biggest story around Berkshire isn’t a quarterly number — it’s succession.
- Berkshire confirmed earlier this year that Greg Abel, currently vice‑chairman in charge of non‑insurance operations, will become CEO on 1 January 2026. Warren Buffett will stay on as chairman. [10]
- Abel has already begun reshaping the leadership team ahead of the handover, according to reporting by The Independent. [11]
Recent announcements (largely based on a Reuters report and subsequent coverage) include: [12]
- Marc Hamburg, Berkshire’s CFO since the 1990s, will retire on 1 June 2027.
- Charles Chang, currently CFO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, will step into the group CFO role in 2026.
- Todd Combs, investment manager and CEO of Geico, is leaving to join JPMorgan Chase, where he’ll lead a new strategic investment arm within the bank’s Security and Resiliency Initiative. [13]
- Berkshire is creating new roles, including a general counsel and a senior manager to oversee its sprawling retail and consumer businesses. [14]
The Independent notes that Abel has also: [15]
- Promoted NetJets CEO Adam Johnson to a new job overseeing all consumer, service and retail units (think Dairy Queen, Helzberg Diamonds, Brooks running shoes and more).
- Promoted Nancy Pierce, previously COO at Geico, to CEO.
- Left himself in direct charge of major industrial, manufacturing and utility businesses such as BNSF Railway and Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
Analysts quoted in that coverage highlight two points:
- Expect more turnover. With Buffett stepping down as CEO after six decades, several long‑tenured subsidiary leaders may finally retire or move on. [16]
- The portfolio question is unresolved. Berkshire hasn’t fully explained how Abel will handle its $300+ billion equity portfolio once Buffett is no longer CEO, especially with Combs departing. [17]
That uncertainty around capital allocation and stock‑picking is central to how markets are pricing Berkshire today.
3. Todd Combs’ exit: why investors care
Several outlets, including Reuters, Morningstar and Barron’s, frame Todd Combs’ departure as a symbolic turning point. [18]
Key context:
- Combs joined Berkshire in 2010 and, alongside Ted Weschler, gradually took on a larger slice of equity‑portfolio management, reportedly about 10% of the portfolio. [19]
- He also became CEO of Geico and was often seen as a bridge between Buffett’s value‑investing playbook and newer, more tech‑heavy bets like Snowflake and VeriSign. [20]
- Berkshire has not yet said who will assume Combs’ investment responsibilities, or how much of that work will fall directly to Abel and Weschler. [21]
Commentary in MarketWatch and other outlets argues that while Combs’ exit is notable, the bigger issue is how Berkshire organizes investment decision‑making after Buffett — not the loss of a single stock picker. [22]
From a stock‑market perspective, that boils down to a simple question: Will Berkshire still deserve a “Buffett premium” once Buffett isn’t running it day to day?
So far, the market’s answer seems to be “maybe, but prove it.”
4. Q3 2025 earnings: strong operating momentum beneath volatile gains
Berkshire reported Q3 2025 results on 1 November. The headline numbers: [23]
- Net earnings attributable to shareholders:
- Q3 2025: $30.8 billion
- Q3 2024: $26.3 billion
→ roughly 17% year‑on‑year growth
- Operating earnings (Buffett’s preferred metric, excluding investment gains/losses):
- Q3 2025: $13.5 billion
- Q3 2024: $10.1 billion
→ about 34% growth year‑on‑year
- For the first nine months of 2025, operating earnings rose about 4%, from $32.9 billion to $34.3 billion. [24]
As always, Berkshire reminds investors that net income is heavily distorted by unrealized gains and losses on its massive stock portfolio, which accounting rules require it to run through the income statement. [25]
The more telling story is in the operating segments.
Insurance: underwriting profits roar back
Berkshire’s Q3 10‑Q and industry coverage highlight a sharp improvement in insurance underwriting: [26]
- Across property‑casualty operations, Berkshire generated about $2.4 billion in pre‑tax underwriting earnings in Q3 2025, helped by strong results in its reinsurance businesses. [27]
- The Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group (which includes specialty and commercial insurers) swung from a loss of $689 million in Q3 2024 to a $506 million profit in Q3 2025, while premiums written grew about 4%. [28]
- The 10‑Q notes lower loss ratios and reduced catastrophe costs compared with prior periods, plus lower underwriting expenses. [29]
For investors, that matters because insurance underwriting is Berkshire’s core engine: it generates “float” — essentially low‑cost funding — that can be reinvested into stocks, bonds, and wholly‑owned businesses.
BNSF, energy and manufacturing: solid but mixed
Berkshire’s operating subsidiaries outside insurance show a more nuanced picture: [30]
- BNSF Railway saw slightly lower freight volumes in 2025 versus 2024, especially in construction‑related and petroleum shipments, but benefited from higher average revenue per car and lower fuel costs.
- Berkshire Hathaway Energy felt pressure from weaker demand and tougher pricing in some regions but still produced healthy cash flow.
- Industrial and manufacturing units — including Precision Castparts, Marmon, and the building products group — generally posted higher revenues and margins, with particularly strong growth in aerospace components at Precision Castparts.
- Clayton Homes, the manufactured housing arm, grew revenue and pre‑tax earnings thanks to higher loan balances and improved financial‑services income, even as housing markets cooled.
Taken together, these results show Berkshire’s collection of businesses still compounding earnings, even before you account for investment gains.
5. Berkshire’s equity portfolio: still Apple‑heavy, but shifting toward Alphabet
Recent 13F filings and portfolio trackers indicate that Berkshire’s public‑equity portfolio is around $267–315 billion, heavily concentrated in a few mega‑caps. [31]
As of Q3 2025, multiple sources agree on the top holdings roughly as follows: [32]
- Apple (AAPL): about 22–24% of the equity portfolio
- American Express (AXP): roughly 18–20%
- Bank of America (BAC): about 10–11%
- Coca‑Cola (KO): around 9–10%
- Chevron (CVX): roughly 6–7%
Q3 filings also revealed some notable moves: [33]
- Berkshire initiated a new ~$4.9 billion stake in Alphabet (GOOGL) — a relatively bold move into another big tech platform.
- The firm trimmed holdings in Apple and Bank of America, realizing gains after years of outsized returns, while still keeping them as core positions.
So while Berkshire’s portfolio is still dominated by a few financial and consumer giants, the mix is slowly evolving, and that evolution will increasingly happen under Greg Abel’s watch rather than Buffett’s.
6. What Wall Street thinks: Berkshire Hathaway stock forecasts for 2026
Analyst coverage of Berkshire is surprisingly thin for a $1 trillion company, and the opinions that do exist are far from unanimous.
BRK.B price targets and ratings
Different aggregators currently show conflicting pictures for BRK.B:
- MarketBeat:
- Only one Wall Street analyst has published a recent rating.
- Consensus rating: “Buy”.
- 12‑month price target: $585, with a range of $575–$595 — implying about 18% upside from a reference price near $497. [34]
- StockAnalysis.com:
- Also reports a single analyst covering BRK.B with a “Strong Buy” rating.
- Gives a $595 target, implying nearly 20% upside from recent trading levels. [35]
- Benzinga’s compilation of analyst targets:
- Aggregates 38 analysts with an average price target of about $567.61 and a consensus “Sell” rating — a reminder that different data vendors pull from different analyst sets.
- Their high target is around $597, and the low is $325.
- The most recent three targets cluster near $594, suggesting modest downside from current levels. [36]
- Stocksguide:
- Tracks 10 analysts, with 1 calling Berkshire a buy, 3 a hold and 6 a sell.
- Its summary suggests a positive average upside into 2026, but with a cautious tone. [37]
The takeaway: the Street is split. Some see Berkshire as a solid value with double‑digit upside; others think the stock is fully valued or even rich given low organic growth and post‑Buffett uncertainty.
BRK.A price targets
For the Class A shares, TickerNerd’s survey of four Wall Street analysts shows: [38]
- Median 12‑month target: $743,000 (slightly below today’s price, implying a small downside of ~0.3%).
- Target range: $695,000 (low) to $892,758 (high).
- Rating mix: 1 Buy, 2 Hold, 1 Sell, which nets out to a neutral consensus.
In plain language: analysts expect reasonable but not spectacular returns, with a wide band driven by how you think the Abel era will play out.
Algorithmic and long‑term projections
Benzinga also cites model‑based forecasts (from CoinCodex) that paint a relatively flat near‑term picture: [39]
- For late 2025, an expected BRK.B range of roughly $494–$507, almost exactly around today’s price.
- For 2026, a projected average near $497, again suggesting sideways action while the CEO transition plays out.
- For 2030, a long‑term model target of $880, implying roughly low‑double‑digit annualized returns — but with big caveats about execution and global macro conditions.
These algorithmic projections are not the same as fundamental analyst research, but they do reflect a market consensus that Berkshire is unlikely to behave like a hyper‑growth stock from here.
7. Is Berkshire Hathaway stock a buy right now?
Recent commentary captures two competing narratives around Berkshire on 9 December 2025:
- The “still a great compounder” camp
- Articles from outlets like The Motley Fool argue that Berkshire’s diversified collection of high‑quality businesses and giant stock portfolio basically amount to owning hundreds of underlying companies in a single security, all overseen by a culture obsessed with capital allocation and conservatism. [40]
- They point to robust operating earnings growth, improving insurance profitability and a fortress balance sheet as reasons to be optimistic. [41]
- The “Buffett discount” camp
- MarketWatch, Morningstar and Barron’s highlight structural risks after Buffett — especially the question of who ultimately controls the investment portfolio and whether Berkshire can maintain its culture when the legend himself is no longer CEO. [42]
- Some analysts argue Berkshire may even deserve a lower valuation multiple if investors no longer expect Buffett‑style outperformance. [43]
Objectively, what you have today is:
- A massive, profitable group of operating businesses generating tens of billions of dollars in yearly operating earnings. [44]
- A $260+ billion equity portfolio dominated by a handful of blue‑chip names. [45]
- A stock trading at a mid‑teens P/E and moderate premium to book value, roughly in line with a high‑quality blue‑chip rather than a speculative growth play. [46]
Whether that’s attractive depends less on what Buffett does in the next few months and more on how much you trust Greg Abel and the next generation of Berkshire managers to keep compounding capital at a decent clip.
8. Key risks and what to watch in 2026
For investors tracking Berkshire Hathaway stock from here, several themes will matter more than day‑to‑day price moves:
- Capital allocation after Buffett
- Who will have the final say on big stock purchases, buybacks and acquisitions — Abel, Weschler, a committee?
- How will Berkshire manage its enormous cash pile and investment portfolio without Buffett’s personal brand anchoring expectations? [47]
- Insurance cycle and catastrophe exposure
- Q3 2025 showed strong underwriting profits; the question is whether that performance is sustainable across a full catastrophe cycle. [48]
- Portfolio concentration in Apple and a few mega‑caps
- Apple alone still represents roughly a fifth to a quarter of Berkshire’s stock portfolio, even after recent trims. [49]
- Any major re‑rating in those core holdings could move Berkshire’s book value and earnings materially.
- Global macro and interest rates
- Higher rates help reinvested insurance float and cash balances, but they can also pressure valuations and some operating businesses, especially housing‑linked units like Clayton Homes. [50]
- Cultural continuity
- Berkshire’s decentralized model and reputation for hands‑off ownership are big reasons why entrepreneurs sell to it. Analysts will watch whether Abel’s more structured approach keeps that culture intact or nudges it toward a more conventional conglomerate. [51]
9. Bottom line
On 9 December 2025, Berkshire Hathaway stock sits at a crossroads:
- Fundamentals are healthy. Operating earnings are up strongly, insurance is firing again, and the portfolio remains packed with high‑quality names. [52]
- Leadership is changing. Greg Abel is stepping into the CEO role under intense scrutiny, while key lieutenants like Todd Combs and Marc Hamburg prepare to exit or transition. [53]
- Valuation is reasonable but not obviously cheap, with analysts split between “Strong Buy,” “Neutral,” and “Sell” labels, and price targets that cluster not far from where the stock already trades. [54]
For long‑term investors, Berkshire today is less a pure “Buffett bet” and more a question about whether its unique culture, diversified earnings base and disciplined capital allocation can outlive the man who built it.
References
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