Berkshire Hathaway From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Type Public (NYSE: BRKA, NYSE: BRKB) Founded 1839 (as Valley Falls Company) Founder Warren Buffett Headquarters Omaha, Nebraska Area served USA Key people Warren E. Buffett (Chairman) & (CEO) Charles T. Munger (Vice Chairman) Industry Property and casualty insurance, Diversified investments Products Conglomerate focused on insurance Market cap US$ 196 Billion (2008) Revenue ▲ US$ 118.245 Billion (2007) Operating income ▲ US$ 20.161 Billion (2007) Net income ▲ US$ 13.213 Billion (2007) Total assets ▲ US$ 273.160 Billion (2007) Total equity ▲ US$ 120.733 Billion (2007) …show more content…
Buffett initially maintained Berkshire's core business of textiles, but by 1967, he was expanding into the insurance industry and other investments. Berkshire first ventured into the insurance business with the purchase of National Indemnity Company. In the late 1970s, Berkshire acquired an equity stake in the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO), which forms the core of its insurance operations today (and is a major source of capital for Berkshire Hathaway's other investments). In 1985, the last textile operations (Hathaway's historic core) were shut down. [edit] Berkshire facts Berkshire's Class A shares sold for $125,000 as of September 16, 2008, making them the highest-priced shares on the New York Stock Exchange, in part because they have never had a stock split. Shares closed over $100,000 for the first time October 23, 2006. Berkshire Class B shares trade at a fraction (1/30) of the Class A prices. Despite its size, Berkshire is not included in broad stock market indices such as the S&P 500. Berkshire's CEO, Warren Buffett, is respected for his investment prowess and his deep understanding of a wide spectrum of businesses. His annual chairman letters are read and quoted widely. Barron's Magazine named Berkshire the most respected company in the world in 2007 based on a survey of American money managers.[2] As of 2005, Buffett owned 38% of Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire's Vice-Chairman
Macy’s, Inc. is known as the Great American Department Store was established in 1858 and now has 810 stores operating in the United States, coast-to-coast. Macy’s stores nationwide are grouped into 69 geographic districts that average ten to twelve stores each. Most stores are located at urban or suburban areas. As of January 30, 2010, the Company’s operations were conducted through four retail operating divisions – Macy’s, macys.com, Bloomingdale’s, and bloomingdales.com. The Company is a retail organization operating retail stores and Internet websites under two brands (Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s) that sell a wide range of merchandise, including men’s, women’s and children’s apparel and accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings and other
Specifically, what does the $718 million gain in Berkshire’s market value of equity imply about the intrinsic value of GEICO?
Portfolio management is an important factor that determines the performance of the portfolio. To perform well in the portfolio, it is not only essential to develop personal investment strategies, but analyzing current financial trend is also vital. Stock Trak is an online portfolio simulation that allows students to try out different investment strategies, and also get a hand on experience in what the real market trading conditions are. By managing the portfolio, I have acquired some new knowledge of investment strategies and also become more familiar with the current market by following closely to the financial headlines.
Conclusion: The increase in Berkshire Hathaway was a response from the markets valuation of GEICO Company to increase, the reinvestments of the money that would be gained on the future sales of Capital Cities/ABC, as well as the markets trust in Warren Buffett’s investments to be successful.
Harnischfeger’s corporate recovery plan was a four pronged approach that involved (1) changes in top management, (2) cost reductions to lower the break-even point, (3) reorientation of the company’s business and (4) debt restructuring and recapitalization. These changes at first glance appear to have allowed Harnischfeger to improve its financial performance from a net loss of $3.49 per share in 1983 to a net gain of $1.28 per share in 1984. In addition, Harnischfeger has appeared to have achieved a majority of its desired outcomes from each of its four changes as shown below.
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is well known in the apparel clothing field. The corporation engages in the design, marketing and distribution of lifestyle product. This analysis paper will illustrate the current financial situation and forecast the future free cash flow based on the previous financial statement and financial data collected. These information and forecast are served for the potential investor to have a general understanding of RL Corporation and make the right choice on their money.
One of the most important objectives of the curse is that as students we should be able to make better financial decisions. Have a better understanding and ability to process and implement strategies and make successful decisions.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader for 76 years. General Motors was founded 1908, in Flint, Michigan and currently employs approximately 284,000 people around the world. GM's global headquarters is the Renaissance Center located in Detroit, Michigan, USA, They currently manufacture their cars and trucks in 35 different countries. Its European headquarters are based in Zurich, Switzerland, and its Holden headquarters are located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 2007, 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were produced globally under the following 12 brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM Daewoo, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and
Brenda Franklin had been serving Allied Tech for the past 8 years. As any other organisations, Brenda used to be a part of the lunch hour conversations with her colleagues. One day when her colleagues were discussing about corruption and politics, something occurred to her. As a result she prepared a list called “Ethically Dubious Conduct” and pasted it on the common notice board. Her colleagues were taken by surprise. Brenda was now anticipating the next lunch where she was expecting her list to be analysed among her colleagues.
In this case study of Berkshire Industries PLC, we will be focusing on the evaluation of their new incentive system and address their potential options. This new system focuses on economic profits instead of accounting profits. To better understand the implications of the economic profit-focused system, we will perform a data analysis on the companies Snack Division. Furthermore, we will assess the negative effect this system had on their underperforming division, Spirits.
In January 2006, company-owned bottling operations were brought together to form the Bottling Investments operating group, now the second-largest bottling partner in the Coca-Cola system in terms of unit case volume.
In this assignment, a savvy financial analyst researching companies in which to invest a U.S. publically-traded company that would be a good investment was chosen. After a lengthy search, a company that my family is unduly familiar with, Starbucks, was chosen and in the following pages a financial analysis will be described.
If the depreciation method changes from straight-line method to accelerated method then, depreciation expense would be increase and net income would decrease. The EPS ratio would represent a loss of $0.19 per share.
Large corporations such as Wal-Mart or Home Depot often come under criticism for putting mom-and-pop shops out of business. While this may be a valid criticism, the consumers neglect to realize that they play the biggest part in shutting these businesses down. Consumers across the country are always looking for the best deals or the lowest prices, and in most cases the larger corporations are where products can be found at the lowest price. Many small business owners and the populations of small towns dislike large corporations moving into the area because they believe it negatively effects the local
Most corporate financing decisions in practice reduce to a choice between debt and equity. The finance manager wishing to fund a new project, but reluctant to cut dividends or to make a rights issue, which leads to the decision of borrowing options. The issue with regards to shareholder objectives being met by the management in making financing decisions has come to become a major issue of recent times. This relates to understanding the concept of the agency problem. It deals with the separation of ownership and control of an organisation within a financial context. The financial manager can raise long-term funds internally, from the company’s cash flow, or externally, via the capital market, the market for funds