Buffet said he and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger don't view the names as a "collection of ticker symbols a financial dalliance to be terminated because of downgrades by 'the Street,' expected Federal Reserve actions, possible political developments, forecasts by economists or whatever else might be the subject du jour."
Instead, they see them as "an assembly of companies that we partly own and that, on a weighted basis, are earning about 20% on the net tangible equity capital required to run their businesses" without employing excessive debt.
Buffett called those returns "remarkable" and said they are "truly mind-blowing when compared against the return that many investors have accepted on bonds over the last decade 3% or less on 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds, for example."
Below are Berkshire's 15 largest holdings ranked from smallest to largest market value at the end of 2018 (Note, Kraft Heinz, of which Berkshire owns 325,442,152 shares, is not included, because the conglomerate is part of a control group and must account for the investment on the "equity" method. Berkshire's Kraft investment has a cost basis of $9.8 billion and market value of $14 billion.):
United Continental
Market value: $1.837 billion
USG Corporation
Market value: $1.851 billion
Charter Communications
Market value: $1.935 billion
Southwest Airlines
Market value: $2.226 billion
Goldman Sachs
Market value: $3.138 billion
Delta Air Lines
Market value: $3.27 billion
Moodys Corporation
% of company owned: 12.9%
Market value: $3.455 billion
Bank of New York Mellon
Market value: $3.977 billion
JPMorgan Chase
Market value: $4.946 billion
US Bancorp
Market value: $6.688 billion
American Express
% of company owned: 17.9%
Market value: $14.452 billion
Coca-Cola
Market value: $18.94 billion
Wells Fargo
Market value: $22.423 billion
Bank of America
Market value: $22.642 billion
Apple
Market value: $40.271 billion
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