Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) Stock Lower Ahead of Earnings Results
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) - Get Report (BRK.A) - Get Report stock is down by 0.70% to $135.61 in late morning trading on Friday, before the release of the company's 2015 third quarter earnings results, due out after the close this afternoon.
The Warren Buffett-owned multinational conglomerate company has been forecast to post a year over year rise in both earnings per share and revenue.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Berkshire Hathaway to report earnings of $1.85 per share on revenue of $61.12 billion for the most recent quarter.
Last year, the company reported earnings of $1.92 per share on revenue of $51.20 billion for the 2014 third quarter.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
We rate BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY (BRK.B) a BUY. This is driven by a number of strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels, good cash flow from operations and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins.
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- BRK.B's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 3.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 3.2%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
- Net operating cash flow has increased to $7,980.00 million or 15.56% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY has also modestly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of 15.56%.
- BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY's earnings per share declined by 37.1% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY increased its bottom line by earning $8.06 versus $7.89 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($10461.56 versus $8.06).
- Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, it is higher than that of the industry average, inferring that management of debt levels may need to be evaluated further.
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: BRK.B
Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.