Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) Competitors

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) are related large-cap companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, AAPL or BRK.B?

Apple has higher revenue and earnings than Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apple, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apple	$391.04B	8.15	$93.74B	$6.42	33.23
Berkshire Hathaway	$371.43B	2.82	$89.00B	$37.52	12.92

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in AAPL or BRK.B?

67.7% of Apple shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.3% of Berkshire Hathaway shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Apple shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of Berkshire Hathaway shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AAPL or BRK.B more profitable?

Apple has a net margin of 24.30% compared to Berkshire Hathaway's net margin of 21.79%. Apple's return on equity of 167.24% beat Berkshire Hathaway's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apple	24.30%	167.24%	31.35%
Berkshire Hathaway	21.79%	7.20%	4.01%

Which has more risk & volatility, AAPL or BRK.B?

Apple has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Berkshire Hathaway has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor AAPL or BRK.B?

In the previous week, Apple had 259 more articles in the media than Berkshire Hathaway. MarketBeat recorded 270 mentions for Apple and 11 mentions for Berkshire Hathaway. Apple's average media sentiment score of 0.85 beat Berkshire Hathaway's score of 0.56 indicating that Apple is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Apple	150 Very Positive mention(s)	18 Positive mention(s)	68 Neutral mention(s)	20 Negative mention(s)	12 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Berkshire Hathaway	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend AAPL or BRK.B?

Apple presently has a consensus target price of $234.95, indicating a potential upside of 10.12%. Berkshire Hathaway has a consensus target price of $520.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.26%. Given Apple's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Apple is more favorable than Berkshire Hathaway.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apple	2 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58
Berkshire Hathaway	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Summary

Apple beats Berkshire Hathaway on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.