What Warren Buffett's Exit as CEO Means for Berkshire Hathaway
By and Sarah Holder
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Warren Buffett shocked shareholders when he announced he'd be stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. The 94-year-old business giant had been running the behemoth company for more than 50 years, and his investment decisions have earned him the nickname the 'Oracle of Omaha.'
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Warren Buffett Recently "Came Pretty Close" to Spending $10 Billion On an Acquisition, and I Strongly Believe One of These 2 Companies Was the Target
During Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting. Warren Buffett noted that he and his team nearly pulled the trigger on a $10 billion deal. One potential buyout target is a legal monopoly that Buffett's company already holds a 35% stake in. Meanwhile, the other possible acquisition target is a time-tested business that has the second longest consecutive annual dividend streak of any U.S. public company. 10 stocks we like better than Sirius XM › There's not a billionaire investor on Wall Street who captivates the attention of professional and everyday investors like Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) CEO Warren Buffett. He earned his nickname, the "Oracle of Omaha," by absolutely crushing the broad-based S&P 500 in the return column over the last 60 years. No event is more special than Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting, which typically draws in the neighborhood of 40,000 people. This meeting features a question-and-answer (Q&A) session that extends hours and allows investors to pick the brain of one of Wall Street's most successful asset managers. While the headline takeaway of Berkshire Hathaway's latest annual meeting is that the 94-year-old Buffett will be stepping aside as CEO by the end of the year and handing the reins to predetermined successor Greg Abel, this was far from the only meaningful announcement. Berkshire's chief also mentioned during the Q&A session that he and his team nearly pulled the trigger on a sizable acquisition. Said Buffett: "We came pretty close to spending $10 billion, not that long ago, for example, but we'd spend $100 billion. I mean, those decisions are not tough to make when something is offered that makes sense to us and that we understand and offers good value." With Buffett being a net seller of stocks for 10 consecutive quarters and growing Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile to almost $348 billion amid a historically pricey stock market, "good value" has been tough to come by. Although Warren Buffett, ultimately, didn't pull the trigger on this teased $10 billion deal, there are two companies -- one of which is a legal monopoly -- which perfectly fit the bill as potential targets of a $10 billion acquisition. If there's one stock that makes for a logical acquisition target for Warren Buffett's company at a $10 billion price tag, its satellite-radio operator Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRI). Sirius XM has a market cap of nearly $7.4 billion. There are a couple of variables that make Sirius XM a potentially logical buyout target for Berkshire Hathaway. To begin with, Berkshire is its largest shareholder. As of the end of March, Buffett's company held 35.4% of Sirius XM's outstanding shares. Completing the purchase of the remaining shares at a premium price still wouldn't cost Berkshire $10 billion out of pocket. Secondly, Sirius XM provides a sustainable competitive advantage, which is something that Warren Buffett tends to seek out in the businesses he invests in. Although it's still competing for listeners with traditional radio providers, it's the only company with a satellite-radio license. Being a legal monopoly should afford Sirius XM a level of subscription pricing power that other companies can't match. The third factor that would have made Sirius XM an ideal $10 billion acquisition target for Buffett is its diversified revenue stream. Whereas terrestrial and online radio providers almost exclusively generate their revenue from advertising, Sirius XM brings in a little north of three-quarters of its net sales from subscriptions. The value of Sirius XM's approach is that its cash flow remains more predictable and consistent during inevitable economic downturns where ad spending can quickly dry up. It's also worth mentioning that Buffett has previously demonstrated a willingness to establish large investment holdings in media/broadcasting stocks. Sirius XM is well within the wheelhouse of Buffett's investment areas of focus. Lastly, Sirius XM Holdings provides a value proposition that's incredibly difficult to find in a historically expensive stock market. While economic uncertainty has weighed on its cumulative subscriber count in recent quarters, Sirius XM's shares are currently valued at a little over 7 times forecast earnings per share in 2025. There's an attractive risk-versus-reward profile. However, Sirius XM isn't the only company which checks all the right boxes that exhibited a price dislocation in recent months. Brand-name power tools and outdoor products company Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) is the other possible stock I believe Buffett was eyeing with $10 billion in hand. As of this writing on June 5, Stanley Black & Decker is a $10 billion company. Usually, acquisitions require the buyer to pay a premium to get the nod of approval from shareholders. But during the tariff-related stock market plunge in early April, Stanley Black & Decker stock fell to around an $8.5 billion market cap. It was well within range for a $10 billion buyout at this point -- especially with tariff-related cost and margin uncertainty hovering over the company. Although Berkshire Hathaway doesn't own any shares of Stanley Black & Decker, this isn't reason enough to believe it wasn't the alluded acquisition target. For starters, Buffett's investment philosophy focuses more on consumer behaviors than it does on innovation. Stanley Black & Decker owns a laundry list of brand-name tool and outdoor brands, including DeWalt, Craftsman, Irwin, Cub Cadet, Lenox, and its namesakes Stanley and Black & Decker. These brands are easily identifiable by consumers and have helped to build trust in the company for more than a century. Additionally, Stanley Black & Decker is time-tested. This is a company founded in 1843 that's grown organically and through acquisitions of its own. It's increased its base annual dividend in each of the last 58 years, and offers the second-longest streak among U.S. public companies of paying a dividend for 149 consecutive years. Companies don't pay a dividend annually for nearly 150 years by accident. This is a testament that its operating model works. Despite tariff-related uncertainty clouding the company's near-term outlook, management has taken steps to improve margins over the long run. Its global cost reduction program has resulted in roughly $1.7 billion in pre-tax annual run-rate cost savings since being introduced in mid-2022. Further, its supply chain remains nimble enough that shifting production to Mexico and the U.S. will help it avoid potential tariffs tied to China over the next two years. Most importantly, Stanley Black & Decker offers a historically tempting valuation discount. Accounting for all the headwinds it's currently working through, shares of Stanley Black & Decker are priced at roughly 11 times forecast earnings per share in 2026. For context, this represents a 37% discount to its average forward-year earnings multiple over the trailing-five-year period. If there was a $10 billion acquisition to be made by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, either Sirius XM or Stanley Black & Decker perfectly fit the mold. Before you buy stock in Sirius XM, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Sirius XM wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 173% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Sean Williams has positions in Sirius XM. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Warren Buffett Recently "Came Pretty Close" to Spending $10 Billion On an Acquisition, and I Strongly Believe One of These 2 Companies Was the Target was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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How To Put $100 In Your Retirement Fund Each Month With Black Hills Stock
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Black Hills Corp. (NYSE:BKH) is an electric and natural gas utility company in the U.S. The 52-week range of Black Hills stock price was $51.66 to $65.59. Black Hills' dividend yield is 4.71%. It paid $2.70 per share in dividends during the last 12 months. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Invest Where It Hurts — And Help Millions Heal: On May 7, the company announced its Q1 2025 earnings, posting EPS of $1.87, coming in below the consensus estimate of $1.93, while revenues of $805.20 million beat the consensus of $706.08 million, as reported by Benzinga. "Looking ahead, our core utility rate base growth and earnings from our growing data center demand provides strong confidence in our 4% to 6% long-term EPS growth target. By the end of our five-year plan, we expect to serve 500 megawatts of data center demand from existing customers through our innovative business model that requires minimal capital, doubling earnings contribution to more than 10% in 2028," said CEO Linn Evans. The company reaffirmed its guidance for full-year 2025, expecting EPS in the range of $4 to $4.20. Trending: Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." If you want to make $100 per month — $1,200 annually — from Black Hills dividends, your investment value needs to be approximately $25,478, which is around 443 shares at $57.45 each. Understanding the dividend yield calculations: When making an estimate, you need two key variables — the desired annual income ($1,200) and the dividend yield (4.71% in this case). So, $1,200 / 0.0471 = $25,478 to generate an income of $100 per month. You can calculate the dividend yield by dividing the annual dividend payments by the current price of the stock. The dividend yield can change over time. This is the outcome of fluctuating stock prices and dividend payments on a rolling instance, assume a stock that pays $2 as an annual dividend is priced at $50. Its dividend yield would be $2/$50 = 4%. If the stock price rises to $60, the dividend yield drops to 3.33% ($2/$60). A drop in stock price to $40 will have an inverse effect and increase the dividend yield to 5% ($2/$40). In summary, income-focused investors may find Black Hills stock an attractive option for making a steady income of $100 per month by owning 443 shares of stock. There may be more upside to come as investors benefit from the company's consistent dividend hikes. Black Hills has raised its dividend consecutively for the last 55 years. Check out this article by Benzinga for three stocks offering high dividend yields. Lower interest rates mean some investments won't yield what they did in months past, but you don't have to lose those gains. Certain private market real estate investments are giving retail investors the opportunity to capitalize on these high-yield opportunities. , which provides access to a pool of short-term loans backed by residential real estate. The best part? Unlike other private credit funds, Looking for fractional real estate investment opportunities? The features the latest offerings. Image: Shutterstock This article How To Put $100 In Your Retirement Fund Each Month With Black Hills Stock originally appeared on
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Warren Buffett Shocks Wall Street With Retirement Plans. Is Berkshire Hathaway Stock Still a Buy? (Hint: Follow Buffett's Lead.)
Warren Buffett will step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway later this year. He will be replaced by Greg Abel, currently the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Buffett, in the last six decades, has transformed Berkshire Hathaway from a doomed textile operation into a trillion-dollar company with diverse subsidiaries. Buffett has not repurchased any Berkshire stock in the last three quarters, and shares currently trade near the high end of the historical valuation range. 10 stocks we like better than Berkshire Hathaway › Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) shares have advanced 9% year to date, but the stock has actually tumbled 8% over the last month because CEO Warren Buffett shocked Wall Street on May 3 when he announced plans to retire this year. Buffett recently said he has no plans to sell any Berkshire stock and reiterated his confidence in successor Greg Abel, currently CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. "I think the time has arrived where Greg should become chief executive officer of the company at year end," Buffett told attendees at the recent shareholder meeting. However, Buffett's business acumen has been a central part of the investment thesis for decades. With his retirement imminent, is Berkshire stock still a buy? Warren Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965. While the last six decades have been nothing short of phenomenal for the company, Buffett says that in hindsight, he showed poor judgment. "Though the price I paid for Berkshire looked cheap, its business -- a large northern textile operation -- was headed for extinction," he wrote in his 2025 shareholder letter. Fortunately, Buffett soon realized his mistake and pivoted toward non-textile operations, the most important of which was insurance. His purchase of National Indemnity, a property and casualty insurance company, in 1967 charted a new course for Berkshire. Moving into insurance created a steady stream of investable capital in the form of premium payments, and Buffett has invested that capital to great effect over the years. Today, Berkshire is one of only 10 trillion-dollar companies. Its stock price has increased nearly 6,000,000% since Buffett assumed control in 1965, compounding at 20% annually. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has returned about 10.4% annually. That outperformance was due in large part to savvy acquisitions, stock purchases, and share buybacks architected by Buffett, such that he has rightly earned a reputation as one of the greatest investors in American history. Buffett says Berkshire has "no possibility of eye-popping performance" in the future due to its size and the nature of its businesses. In the past, the company has expanded through acquisitions and stock purchases, but with a book value of $650 billion -- the largest of any American business -- very few investments will move the financial needle in a meaningful way for Berkshire. Additionally, Berkshire owns dozens of subsidiaries across a diverse range of industries, including insurance, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, retail, energy, and utilities. But none of those industries are known for high growth, which means Berkshire's earnings will likely increase at a modest pace (not an astonishing one) in the future. That doesn't automatically make Berkshire a bad investment. But investors must be aware of the constraints because high-growth businesses often warrant higher valuations. With that in mind, the stock currently trades at 1.63 times book value, near the high end of the historical range. The five-year average is 1.43. The present figure looks expensive for a business with no chance of eye-popping performance in the future. Buffett evidently agrees. He has not repurchased Berkshire stock since the second quarter of 2024. Prior to that, he repurchased stock in 24 consecutive quarters, spending a cumulative $78 billion on buybacks. Importantly, Berkshire held $348 billion in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet in the first quarter, so the company had plenty of capital to fund buybacks. Buffett simply chose not to take action. Here's the bottom line: Their only explanation as to why Buffett has not repurchased stock in three straight quarters is that he believes Berkshire shares are overvalued. In fact, we can assume he sees shares as less attractive than at any point since Q2 2018. And with the stock still trading near the high end of its historical price-to-book value range, I would be surprised if Buffett were buying shares today. So, while Berkshire is undoubtedly a great business with excellent management -- and Greg Abel is an excellent choice to succeed Buffett -- I think investors should pass on the stock today and wait for a better entry point. Most Wall Street analysts agree: Berkshire's Class B shares have a target price of $490, which implies about 1% downside from the current share price of $494. Before you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Berkshire Hathaway wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Trevor Jennewine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Warren Buffett Shocks Wall Street With Retirement Plans. Is Berkshire Hathaway Stock Still a Buy? (Hint: Follow Buffett's Lead.) was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
