Warren Buffett Watch
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Adds GM to Holdings
- Lunch With Warren Buffett: $2 Million-Plus?
- Warren Buffett: Lady Di Called Bill Clinton 'Sexiest Man Alive'
- CNBC Transcript: Warren Buffett on Squawk Box
- Warren Buffett: We're Buying Two US Stocks
- Warren Buffett to CNBC: Mark Zuckerberg Right to Keep Tight Control Over Facebook
- Warren Buffett: Apple and Google Too Risky For Me
- Warren Buffett Reassures Shareholders on Cancer and Succession
- Warren Buffett Recently Considered $22 Billion Acquisition
- Warren Buffett 'Very Comfortable' With Berkshire Stock Buybacks
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- US Law Firm Dewey Files for Chapter 11, Seeks Liquidation
- Europe Markets Seen Edging Higher; Investors Watch Spain
- Emerging Market Stocks to Test Lehman Lows on 'Grexit'
- Funds Cut Exposure to Euro Zone Banks
- Greek Contagion Could Drag Euro Below $1.19: Charts
- Greece Pours $22.6 Billion Into Four Biggest Banks
- European Firms Plan for Greek Unrest and Euro Exit
- Greece to Leave Euro Zone on June 18: Wealth Manager
- Charting Asia | Euro-Dollar Weekly
- Buy Asian Stocks Now as Market Panics Over Europe: Analyst
- A New Look at the ‘New Poor’
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Greek Exit Could Trigger 50% Fall in Euro Stocks: Analyst
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Big Stock Upside for Hudson City Deal: Analyst
- 5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Option Bulls Take Another Shot on Idenix
- US Markets Will Be Watching Europe—And Jobs Report
- Emerging Markets to Test Lehman Lows on 'Grexit'
- Spain's Debt Costs Near Danger Level: Is Bailout Next?
- Samsung Galaxy S3 Gets Head Start on iPhone
- US Winds Down Longer Benefits for the Unemployed
- Cool Jobs: From Gold Stacker to Bed Tester
- Shell Puts Alberta Oil Sands Project on the Block
- Egyptians Torch Shafiq HQ as Vote Triggers Violence
- Fire Kills 19, Mostly children, in Upscale Qatar Mall
Berkshire Hathaway Shares Soar As Warren Buffett Joins the S&P 500
Text Size 
Executive Producer
 |
S&P says tonight (Tuesday) that Berkshire will replace Burlington Northern Santa Fe in both the S&P 500 and the more exclusive S&P 100.
Berkshire, of course, is acquiring BNSF in a deal expected to close next month. When that happens, the railroad itself will no longer be publicly traded.
Not surprisingly, Berkshire B shares were up 8 percent in after-hours trading minutes after the news hit .. rising to $73.50 from today's 4p ET close of $68.06.
The higher-priced Class A shares were up 5 percent to $107,000 from today's 4p ET close of $102,010.
The big index funds that try to mimic the returns of the S&P 500 will now need to buy Berkshire Class B shares, boosting demand for the stock.
Longtime Buffett fan and value investor Whitney Tilson tells CNBC's Fast Money tonight that he's been stocking up on Berkshire shares because he expected S&P would tap the stock now that the split has brought its trading price closer to $70 than $3500. (Tilson comments start about 2:15 into the clip to the left.)
He says he plans to hold onto the purchases because he expects the stock to rise even more because even after tonight's gain shares are still 20 to 30 percent below his estimate of the company's "intrinsic value."
And Buffett himself is probably smiling tonight. During last week's CNBC live interview with Becky Quick, he sounded like he wouldn't mind at all if Berkshire made the S&P:
BECKY: There are some people who say, hey, this could mean that Berkshire Hathaway could now become a member of the S&P 500. What do you think of that?
BUFFETT: Well, I don't know. I've never talked to S&P about it. I do know that we're probably four times as large in market cap as any company that isn't in it. And we will have - when we get through with this we could have like 700,000 shareholders or something of that sort. We'll have a lot of trading volume. But that's up to S&P.
BECKY: Would you like to be in?
BUFFETT: Well, I think probably for our shareholders it's a net plus, yeah.
Current Berkshire stock prices:
Class A: [BRK.A
Loading...
()
]
Class B: [BRK.B
Loading...
()
]
For more Buffett Watch updates follow alexcrippen on Twitter.
Email comments to
 |
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
