In This Article:
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(0:30) - Breaking Down The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting
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(5:30) - Top Takeaways From Warren Buffett
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(17:10) - Stocks To Keep On Your Watchlist: Invest Like Buffett
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(34:00) - Episode Roundup: GOOGL, SONY, UNP, V, MA
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Podcast@Zacks.com
Welcome to Episode #369 of the Value Investor Podcast.
Every week, Tracey Ryniec, the editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio, shares some of her top value investing tips and stock picks.
93-year-old Warren Buffett hosted another Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on May 4, 2024 in Omaha. It is the biggest annual gathering of value investors in the world.
Thankfully, if you aren’t a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder, you can now watch the event “live” on CNBC. CNBC also does interviews with some of the Berkshire Hathaway company CEOs during the lunch break.
It’s a multi-hour question and answer session with Berkshire shareholders. And even though this year was a tribute to Buffett’s right-hand-man, Charlie Munger, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 99, there was still plenty of Buffett’s typical folksy advice.
He always makes investing seem so easy to navigate.
The Best Tips from the Annual Meeting
Some of Buffett’s most interesting comments at the meeting don’t always have to do with investing. Many are just about life. Here are some of the notes Tracey scribbled while watching the Q&A.
These are three of the best tips.
1. Compounding is one of the most important factors in investing.
2. Read top books, like Ben Graham’s the Intelligent Investor, several times.
3. The deficit is not keeping him up at night.
5 Stocks That are Berkshire Hathaway Approved
Berkshire was sitting on $182 billion in cash as of the annual meeting. What stocks are Buffett-like that he could buy, or buy more, of?
1. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
Alphabet fits the mold of a Berkshire stock. It has moats and plenty of free cash flow. Alphabet had $108.1 billion in cash as of Mar 31, 2024.
Shares of Alphabet are near all-time highs, up 24.4% year-to-date. But it’s actually cheap on a historic basis and compared to the other Magnificent 7 stocks.
Alphabet trades with a forward P/E of 22.8. It has a PEG ratio of just 1.3. A PEG under 1.0 usually indicates both value and growth. But 1.3 is still low.
Will Berkshire Hathaway eventually buy shares of Alphabet?
2. Sony Group Corp. (SONY)
Sony is a global powerhouse in gaming, cameras, chips, entertainment, and music. It has plenty of moats. In May 2024, Sony announced it was raising its dividend and would target a 40% total payout ratio by the end of Fiscal 2027.