We recently published a list of Warren Buffett’s 10 Longest-Held Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) stands against other Warren Buffett’s longest-held stocks.
Warren Buffett has cemented his legacy as Wall Street’s most successful investor. During the high-flying stock market of the 1960s, he leveraged his investment partnership to acquire Berkshire Hathaway, a struggling New England textile company at the time. Today, the firm is a vastly different entity, boasting a diverse range of businesses from Geico insurance to BNSF Railway, an equity portfolio exceeding $266 billion, and an enormous cash reserve of $325.2 billion. Decades of strong returns have built Buffett’s unmatched track record. Since he took over in 1965, the company’s shares have delivered an annualized gain of 19.8%.
Buffett has famously stated that his ideal holding period for a stock is “forever”. True to his word, the Oracle of Omaha has held onto some of his favorite stocks for the long haul, allowing them to deliver steady share performance and generate passive income for his portfolio over time. Moreover, market analysts and investors alike have consistently praised Buffett’s disciplined, long-term approach to investing, more so now that his firm has become the latest non-tech firm to surpass a $1 trillion market cap, highlighting Buffett’s stock-picking abilities.
However, despite strong market performance through much of 2024, Buffett seems to have adopted a more defensive stance. Concerned about inflated valuations amid high interest rates and worsening economic conditions, he has offloaded significant holdings in companies whose valuations have surged too high. Billionaire investor David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital echoed this in his hedge fund’s quarterly letter, noting Buffett’s cautious approach:
“One could argue that sitting out bear markets has been the underappreciated reason for his outstanding long-term returns. It is therefore noteworthy to observe that Mr. Buffett is again selling large swaths of his stock portfolio and building enormous cash reserves.”
Over the past two years, Buffett has been an active net seller of stocks. His firm offloaded a total of $36.1 billion in stocks during the third quarter, marking the eighth consecutive quarter in which Berkshire was a net seller of equities. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting in May, Buffett mentioned the possibility of a future rise in the corporate tax rate.
Moreover, in his 2023 letter, Buffett also addresses common questions about Berkshire, including whether the company can continue to achieve the same level of outperformance as in the past:
“There remain only a handful of companies in this country capable of truly moving the needle at Berkshire, and they have been endlessly picked over by us and by others. Some we can value; some we can’t. And, if we can, they have to be attractively priced. Outside the U.S., there are essentially no candidates that are meaningful options for capital deployment at Berkshire. All in all, we have no possibility of eye-popping performance. Nevertheless, managing Berkshire is mostly fun and always interesting. On the positive side, after 59 years of assemblage, the company now owns either a portion or 100% of various businesses that, on a weighted basis, have somewhat better prospects than exist at most large American companies.”
Our Methodology
To create our list of Warren Buffett’s longest-held stocks, we analyzed his Q3 2024 investment portfolio and selected stocks that he has consistently held for the longest duration. These figures were sourced from the Insider Monkey Database.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
American Express (AXP): $16.6 Billion Revenue and Strategic Growth in Warren Buffett’s Portfolio
A close-up view of a payment terminal, capturing the sophistication of a payment network.
Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in Q3 2024: $41.1 billion
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) provides a comprehensive digital payments platform, offering secure and convenient transaction solutions through its range of credit cards, charge cards, and financing products. Its business has thrived amid a strong U.S. economy, making it the second-largest holding in Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio at the close of Q3 2024.
In the third quarter of 2024, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) reported impressive financial results, with earnings per share of $3.49 and revenues reaching $16.6 billion, an 8% year-over-year increase. The company also raised its full-year EPS guidance to between $13.75 and $14.05, up from the previous range of $13.30 to $13.80, and expects revenue growth of around 9%. While net interest income surged 20% in Q2, it is expected to moderate as the year progresses.
On October 14, Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. maintained its Buy rating on American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shares and raised the price target to $300, up from $265, citing the company’s strong customer base and its ability to navigate a challenging spending environment effectively.
Artisan Select Equity Fund stated the following regarding American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shares rose 22% this quarter. This is an interesting case study given our earlier discussion about inflation. American Express operates one of the largest credit card networks in the world. Its revenue is largely a function of a fee rate applied to the dollar value of goods and services that are transacted through its network. That dollar value is, of course, nominal. As inflation pushes up the value of those goods and services as it has for the past few years, American Express will capture that value through its fee structure. The past few years inflation has clearly been a benefit. Aside from its inherent inflation protection, the business is a very strong one. Payments continue to shift toward electronic forms, benefiting American Express. It also has a strong brand that attracts loyal and highly profitable customers that are the envy of the industry. Recent results have been strong with revenues moving nicely ahead of GDP.”
Overall, AXP ranks 2nd on our list of Warren Buffett’s longest-held stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of AXP, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AXP but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
