This is Buffett’s 60th year at Berkshire’s helm and the company has record operating earnings in the first nine months of 2024 and a record stock price.

Each quarter, investors wait for Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) to file its 13-F form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, disclosing what stocks the company owned at the end of each quarter.

Based on the fourth-quarter 13F filing, Buffett's cash hoard is likely to have swelled even further when the company's annual report is revealed later this month. In addition to the two S&P 500 ETFs, Berkshire's notable sales in the fourth quarter included:

There’s a good chance that Berkshire Hathaway’s stock will lag the S&P 500 in the coming years. This is a matter of simple probabilities, and not a criticism of Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and Chief Executive Warren Buffett or his designated successors.

From 1965 to 2023, Berkshire Hathaway expanded its net earnings at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% from $2 million to $96.2 billion. A $1,000 investment in the company on the day Buffett took the helm would be worth $2.48 million today. The same investment in the S&P 500 would only have grown to about $68,200.