Berkshire Hathaway’s Decade of Growth: How $10,000 Became $33,900

Key Points

• $10,000 invested in Berkshire Hathaway shares in August 2016 grew to approximately $33,900.
• The same $10,000 placed in an S&P 500 index fund, with dividends reinvested, grew to approximately $41,300.
• Berkshire’s operating earnings increased from $17.6 billion in 2016 to $44.5 billion in 2025.

Ten years ago this week, on Aug. 25, 2016, Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE:BRKA)(NYSE:BRKB) B shares closed at $148.64. Ten years later, on Aug. 25 of this year, they closed at $504.32.

Berkshire pays no dividend, so the price appreciation represents the entire return. A $10,000 investment grew to approximately $33,900.

The stock roughly tripled, compounding at approximately 13% annually. By nearly any measure, that constitutes a strong decade. However, the most relevant benchmark is what identical capital would have earned elsewhere, and that comparison does not favor Berkshire.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Did it beat the index?

Berkshire did not outperform the market during this period. The same $10,000 invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT:SPY), with dividends reinvested, grew to approximately $41,300 over the identical timeframe, representing approximately 15% annual returns using the fund’s dividend-adjusted price history. The index fund finished approximately $7,400 ahead on the initial $10,000 stake.

Part of this outcome relates to timing. The past decade arguably belonged to the large technology companies that came to dominate the index, and more recently to an artificial intelligence (AI) construction boom. Berkshire’s operating businesses—including insurance, freight, and power generation—have largely remained on the sidelines of this trend.

Making this comparison remains worthwhile because of what it reveals about the sources of Berkshire’s returns. For the most part, investors did not decide to pay higher prices for each dollar of Berkshire’s earnings. Rather, the company simply generated more dollars in earnings.

The business roughly tripled as well

The more compelling aspect of this decade is how closely the stock price tracked the underlying company’s performance.

In 2016, Berkshire reported $17.6 billion in full-year operating earnings—the metric Warren Buffett consistently advised investors to monitor, as it excludes fluctuations in the value of the stock portfolio. In 2025, the company reported $44.5 billion, approximately two and a half times as much—though Berkshire has adjusted how it defines this metric over the years.

On a per-share basis, the growth was more pronounced. Berkshire has been reducing its share count through buybacks, from approximately 1.64 million Class A-equivalent shares in 2016 to approximately 1.43 million at midyear, representing roughly 13% fewer shares. Spreading the increased earnings across a smaller share count resulted in per-share operating earnings, as Berkshire reports them, nearly tripling—roughly consistent with the stock price appreciation.

This growth has not followed a straight trajectory. Operating earnings declined in 2025 from $47.4 billion in 2024. However, the first half of this year ran 17% ahead of last year’s pace, at $24.3 billion, with BNSF railroad earning $2.9 billion (up approximately 10% year over year), the energy business up 11%, and the manufacturing, service, and retailing segment up 15%.

Insurance float also expanded, from approximately $91.6 billion at the end of 2016 to approximately $177.5 billion at midyear. Float represents the premium funds Berkshire holds and invests for its own benefit before claims are paid, and it has long served as the engine of the company’s compounding. A doubling of float doubles the capital available for investment.

These figures exclude the stock portfolio’s gains and losses, though not its dividend income. Those gains appear on a separate line item that Berkshire advises investors not to overinterpret from one quarter to the next.

Therefore, the majority of the tripling did not result from a shift in the market’s valuation of Berkshire. Rather, it reflected the business growing larger while becoming concentrated across fewer shares.

Is the stock still attractively valued?

The business continues to expand. Second-quarter operating earnings rose 16% year over year, and Berkshire repurchased approximately $4.5 billion of its own stock during the quarter, following $235 million in the first quarter.

Investors have taken notice. At approximately $504 as of this writing, shares trade approximately 6% below their 52-week high of $537.74, and Berkshire’s market value stands at approximately $1.1 trillion. Relative to the second quarter’s operating earnings annualized, that valuation represents approximately 21 times operating earnings.

To be fair, a stock screener will display a considerably lower price-to-earnings ratio, near 13. However, that figure relies on reported net income, which includes investment gains that fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter—Berkshire itself advises investors that these amounts are typically meaningless over short periods. The operating earnings metric provides a more accurate picture, and based on this measure, the stock no longer represents the bargain it arguably was earlier in the decade.

Of course, the index won this decade, and if AI spending continues to drive the market, it may keep outperforming. However, Berkshire’s 10-year performance tells a simpler narrative. The stock roughly tripled because the business roughly tripled. At approximately 21 times operating earnings, a buyer today is wagering on this trajectory continuing.

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