Berkshire Hathaway Stock Primed for November Surge: Here’s Why It’s a Must-Buy Now

Warren Buffett's empire quietly positions for Q4 breakout as traditional markets wobble—while crypto continues eating Wall Street's lunch.

The Oracle's Timing Play

Buffett’s conglomerate executes its signature patience strategy right as seasonal volatility kicks in. No flashy moves—just calculated accumulation while retail investors chase meme stocks.

Cash War Chest Deployment

That $189 billion liquidity hoard isn’t gathering dust. Berkshire’s deploying dry powder into undervalued assets while competitors struggle with liquidity crunches.

Hedging Against Macro Chaos

With inflation stubborn and rate cuts delayed, Berkshire’s diverse portfolio acts as a fortress. Meanwhile, crypto’s 24/7 trading and transparent ledgers make traditional finance’s quarterly guesswork look archaic.

Berkshire stock offers stability in turbulent times—a rare commodity in today’s market casino where most fund managers can’t outperform a simple Bitcoin hold.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. Image source: The Motley Fool.

Why did Berkshire Hathaway underperform the market?

The heaviest weight on Berkshire's stock was Buffett's announcement in early May that he WOULD retire by the end of the year from his role as CEO. He will be succeeded by Greg Abel, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Energy. Abel has been with Berkshire since 1999 but isn't a seasoned stock picker like Buffett or his longtime partner, the late Charlie Munger. Buffett will keep his title as board chairman.

Berkshire's stock portfolio is worth $295 billion, or 29% of its market cap of $1.03 trillion. If Abel and his team mismanage that massive portfolio -- which includes big stakes in,,, and -- it could erode the company's long-term earnings growth. Berkshire's focus on value stocks further capped its gains this year as many investors rotated toward growth plays.

That's not all. Ajit Jain, who served as Berkshire's insurance chief for nearly four decades, sold more than half of his shares in 2024. Berkshire then paused its buybacks, sold a lot of its top stocks, and boosted its cash and equivalents to record highs with its massive purchases of short-term Treasuries. All of those conservative moves suggested both Berkshire's stock and the broader market were getting overvalued.

Why is Berkshire Hathaway still a compelling investment?

Those challenges are clearly preventing the bulls from rushing back to Berkshire, but I think its stock still looks reasonably valued. At its current market cap, Berkshire trades at 21 times its operating earnings (which exclude its investment-related gains and losses) from 2024.

Flipping the calendar back to the end of 2019, Berkshire's stock was still trading at 23 times operating earnings for the year. If you didn't invest in Berkshire back then because you thought it looked a bit too pricey, you missed out on a gain of more than 110%.

From 2019 to 2024, Berkshire's operating earnings grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% -- even as the pandemic, inflation, high interest rates, trade wars, geopolitical conflicts, and other macro headwinds rattled the global markets. It achieved that stable growth because its Core business generates a lot of its profits from its insurance subsidiaries -- which are better insulated from economic downturns than other sectors. As interest rates decline and the macro environment stabilizes, its other subsidiaries -- especially those in the railroad, energy, and consumer staples sectors -- should shine again and complement the growth of its insurance businesses.

As for Buffett's retirement and its potential impact on Berkshire's portfolio, I don't think Abel will abruptly shake up those stocks. Instead, he'll probably stick with Buffett's value-oriented stock-picking strategies instead of chasing riskier and higher-growth plays. Its CORE business should keep generating fresh cash to gradually expand that portfolio.

Berkshire Hathaway might experience a few hiccups as Buffett finally retires, but I believe he built a company that will keep growing for decades to come. It might not stir up as much excitement as it did in the past, but it's still one of the best stocks to buy right now.